Animorphs: The Retaliation Retool
by 117Jorn
Summary: People should always be careful what they wish for... I found that out the hard way when I found myself in the presence of the Animorphs who for so long were once fiction to me, and fighting in a war in another reality... my name is Jordan, and I am going to make sure this time, the war goes our way. And the Yeerks had better be ready... four our Retaliation. (Retool of Original)
1. Chapter 1

**117Jorn: For those of you who read the original version of Retaliation, Just so you are all aware, Chapters 1-5 are mostly unchanged, however Jessica and her team have been removed until close to the end of Book #1. So this first chapter is almost identical save for some tweaks to the dialogue.  
**

* * *

My name is Jordan.

To most, I am just your average eighteen year old, graduated from High School already and looking for Jobs. I have friends, family, a few crushes and the whatnot. Just your average Teenager I guess.

Well… that's how it use to be, for me at least. Now, everything is way more complicated for me and my friends.

...Have you ever heard of the Butterfly Effect? Well, basically In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in which a small change at one place in a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences in a later state. This was theorized by a man named Edward Lorenz who theorized that a Hurricane could have been formed from something as simple as a Butterfly flapping its wings several weeks earlier.

I know it sounds crazy, but I personally believe in it…well, I don't believe in the Butterfly making a Hurricane bit, but the concept itself I believe is true. Small changes can easily affect the outcome of the future if one tries hard enough. That is what I am trying to is what we are trying to do.

Who are we? We are the people who are protecting you from the threats you don't know, the things you probably don't want to know, but the fact you're reading this proves you at least want to know what the hell is going on here. And what might you ask is it we are protecting you from?

The Yeerks.

They are parasites, an entire race of small slug-like aliens. Yes, Aliens. And their here, on earth. Now you might say I am crazy, that they don't exist. Well, you'd be wrong. The Yeerks are here, but you can't see them. Yet at the same time, you can.

Your friends, your mother, father, brother sister, girlfriend, school teachers, even policemen could be Yeerks, acting as 'Human Controllers.' That's what Yeerks are, they squirm into your head, and infest you, and that Yeerk has complete control of your body, and complete access to your memories. They know everything about who they control, and they can mimic them almost flawlessly. You may never know if your own family are all Yeerks in disguise.

The Yeerks are here, and they want Earth, they want humans to control so they can continue their path of conquest against their enemies, another alien race called the Andalites. Humans are not the first race Yeerks have conquered, they have taken control reportedly hundreds of other speices, some of which I've heard of like Taxxons, Hork-Bajir, and Gree, but there are many more I haven't heard of that are just as dangerous.

Me and my friends, we are all that fight the Yeerks. We are what stand between freedom, and enslavement. We are only a handful now… but we will grow, and we will build an army of like-minded friends who will stop at nothing to kick the Yeerks off of our home once and for all.

I know this sounds crazy and all, trust me it sounded that way for me too. More for me because, well… a month ago, all of this was just another science fiction story I loved to read, called Animorphs. Let me go back and explain how I became involved…

* * *

Ram the Blade Ship.

The last words of Jake, leader of the Animorphs, during the final book and chapter of Animorphs. K.A Applegate really did a number on us with that cliffhanger ending, believe me. You wouldn't believe how angry I was.

I sighed as I put 'The Beginning' down on my bedside table, and glancing at the clock. It was One fifteen AM, and it was still dark outside. I usually stay up later than the rest of my family, I don't got to bed until two or even three o'clock AM sometimes. Hell, there are some days I go a full 24 hours without a drop of sleep. I spend most of my time using the internet or, like tonight, reading up on books I loved.

As I said before, my name's Jordan. Although some tend to call me Jaden, mostly because I am writing a story where my main character is named Jaden, and my friends tend to call me that, not that I mind at all. Back then, I was just your everyday teen with short brown hair and brown eyes.

I've loved Animorphs since I was in the fifth grade, kinda funny how I became a fan when you think about it… back then I actually hated reading, and I just liked to look at the pictures of books, specifically things involving stuff like war, sci-fi stuff, you know, things kids like to see. But at my local library, they had a system where I can only read specific books with my 'reading score' which I hated. However, the Librarian was kind enough to show me one book which caught my attention, a book where the cover had someone changing into a Crocodile.

I started reading it… and the more I read, the more I was drawn to Animorphs, and reading in general. I loved the series, it was awesome. It had everything a kid could ask for, violence, action, drama, even some bits of romance for those who were interested. I started seeking out Animorphs Books relentlessly, like a kid who loved Pokemon, I just had to catch e'm all, I didn't want to stop until I had every last Animorphs book ever made.

Now, twelve years later, and here I am. Although my collection still isn't complete, its a drastic improvement to what I had before. Out of the sixty two books that had been made from 1996 to 2001, I have thirty six of the original fifty four books, plus three of the four Meganimorphs. Even today I keep an eye open for the remaining books I need to complete my collection. And I am just now realizing we're getting off track, so back to me.

After I had put down The Beginning, my mind thought back to everything I had read in Animorphs, all of the triumphs and defeats of Jake, Rachel, Tobias, Marco, Cassie, and Ax. I also thought about all of those minor characters, like Melissa Chapman, the Auxiliary Animorphs, and many others who had so much potential, but could never meet it. And it did sorta make me angry that K.A Applegate ended this amazing series on such a sour note in my opinion. When I was younger, I tried to make a story which would continue Animorphs, sorta my way of 'ending on a good note' you could say. Of course I was just a kid back then, so it never really worked out, just being an early piece of fanfiction before I even knew Fanfiction existed in the first place.

Though sometimes I still thought of what it would be like to somehow fix the world the Animorphs lived in, to save so many lives, and make everything turn out for the better. Of course I just dismiss those as childhood dreams that could never become reality.

How wrong I was.

Suddenly, I began feeling much more tired than I was before, like I was hit by a wave of sleepiness. I took that as my sign to just go to sleep, and I did as I pulled up the covers of my bed, rested my head on a pillow, and in just moments I found myself falling asleep.

* * *

I finally awoke with a loud yawn, as I shook my head. "Okay..." I muttered as I sat up in my bed, rubbing out the last bits of sleep in my eyes "Saturday Morning, got lots to do, placed to go, and I gotta..." At that moment, I opened my eyes, and I froze as I looked around.

This was not my room. It looked similar, but it was missing everything. My lamp, posters, my calender, everything was missing! The bed didn't even feel the same. "Okay..." I muttered, "What the fuck?"

I quickly got up to my feet, thankfully I went to bed with my clothes still on, just a pair of basketball shorts and a red T-Shirt. I looked around and saw the room, while looking similar to my original room, was different. All of the walls were white, not lime green like my room was. And as mentioned before, all of my posters and other items I had put around my room were also gone.

"Two questions," I said, "First: What? Second: The Fuck? Where the Hell am I?"

" **Where are you? You ask. This is your new home Jordan. For the moment at least,** " a voice from across the room answered, causing Jordan to whirl around in a defensive stance, however his eyes widened at what he saw. It was vaguely humanoid, but clearly different. Instead of hair, it had magnificent, rainbow-colored quills. Four wings came from its back looking like an angel's. He had four arms and four blue eyes as well. He stood on two feet. I noticed that the tops of his feet were like talons. It looked almost like he could rotate a foot to stand on a talon instead.

I blinked in surprise, as I looked at the… thing, in front of me. "What the hell…?" I muttered, and the weird… bird… thing smiled.

" **Think, Jordan.** " He said, " **Look at my features, where have you heard of them before?** "

I was about to ask how it knew my name, but I did as asked, and tried to think where he had seen - or 'heard' of this… thing. And in one moment however, it hit me like a sack of bricks as my eyes widened. It was a Ketran! He was a Ketran, an alien race that was extinct in Animorphs continuity… save for one.

" **And now, you know.** " The creature said, reading his mind.

"Ellimist..." I muttered, trembling a bit "But wha… how… you don't exist!"

" **The fact I am standing before you disproves that theory, Jordan.** " The Ellimist said, " **There are many universes, Jordan, the Multiverse has many different worlds and galaxies, each one different, yet some are very similar. Is it too much of a stretch to believe that one universe that was once fictional, is in fact a reality?** "

"So… so wait..." I said, trying to grap the idea of this "So… Animorphs… Jake, Cassie, the Yeerks… their all… real?"

The Ellimist nodded " **Yes,** " he said, " **Or at least it will be real. Tonight at Seven will be the night that Elfangor will land on earth, and you must be there with the Animorphs to guide them to the better future.** "

I raised an eyebrow "Why are you doing this?" I asked, "And why pick me, out of all of the people in my reality, out of billions of people to pick, you chose me. Why? I doubt big old red eye's would let this slide."

" **He didn't,** " Ellimist said, " **Which is why we came to a compromise… I would be allowed to bring you into our reality, and make it so you can achieve whatever it is you believe will help the Animorphs the most… however Crayak will be allowed to set into motion specific events that did not occur in the original series, events which could drastically change the course of the war. They will be small at first, but eventually...** "

I nodded in understanding "I get it," I said, "So not even my knowledge of Animorphs will help me through and through, so I need more trump cards."

The Ellimist smiled " **So, do you accept the offer?** " He asked.

"Answer me this first," I said, "What happens to my reality? I can't just leave my friends and family. Also, if you want me to help you, I'm gonna need more trump cards than just my knowledge of the series and Morphing."

" **Your reality will be… paused, I suppose you can say.** " The God-like figure said, " **Should you wish to return home once you finish your mission in the Animorph Universe, no time will have passed. However… if you are killed in the Animorph Universe...** "

"I die in this reality, and my parents will forget I even existed in the first place?" I asked knowing the answer, this was how the Ellimist and Crayak's little war game worked. Spending so long reading Animorphs you learn a thing or two about how they work. His thoughts were confirmed with the Ellimist nodded **"Yes, I am sorry."** he said, **"But those are the rules… well some of them."**

For about a minute I was silent, as I contemplated my options. The Ellimist was giving me the option to go back home where it was safe… or possibly live out a childhood dream I always wanted, but risk getting killed and no one remembering me. I think that anyone else may of picked the first option, and leave… but deep down… I felt like I had to do this. Different realities or not, this may be a way to change the lives of billions of people. The Animorphs, Auxiliary Animorphs, and so many others. I could save them, and actually be someone.

I let out a long sigh "I'll do it," I said, and the Ellimist smiled, "So what are the rules in total? And what differences can you tell me that I can expect?"

" **The rules are simple, really.** " The Ellimist said, " **First, you cannot reveal the location of the Time Matrix buried at the construction site. Second, While you can tell the Animorphs some of their futures, you cannot tell them their full fates, so you cannot warn Rachel of what happens in book 54… yet. I will have a list of events you cannot tell the Animorphs… directly.** "

"So I can't tell Marco his mom is still alive, and stuff like that?" I took a guess, and the Ellimist nodded "Alright, what else?"

" **Thirdly, the Animorphs are not allowed to read future books,** " He said, " **But you are allowed to let them read past books whose events have already transpired. That is it.** "

"That's it?" I asked, "Those are the only rules? I can work with this."

" **Yes,** " Ellimist said, nodding. " **Now, there are several changes you may notice Jordan. First off, unlike in your world where it is in the 2000's, here in the Animorphs world it is the 1990's. And also, you will notice that the Animorphs themselves are older than they were in the series, more close to your age and in high school rather than middle school.** "

I rose my brow at that "Why the change?" I asked suspiciously.

 **"It is simply the way things are now,"** The Ellimist answered, **"Neither I nor Crayak have control over this."**

I processed that for a moment, before shrugging. "Alright, good." I said, "Thanks for letting me know ahead of time..." he looked around "So… where are we?"

" **As I said, your new home.** " Ellimist answered, " **It is a large house I have constructed, close to where the Hork-Bajir valley is located, and is protected the same way it is. I intentionally made it blank so you would have room to customize it… however I have taken the liberty of adding some features here you can use for you war with the Yeerks.** "

I rose an eyebrow at that "What do you mean?" I asked, and the Ellimist chuckled.

" **You will find out in due time,** " he said, before he gestured to the side where suddenly a poster of a tiger appeared on the wall. " **Behind the poster is a safe, which contains your entire collection of Animorph Books… as well as any books you were missing at the time, along with all of the T.V Episodes on DVD.** "

I blinked in surprise, but grinned triumphantly "Thank you… so much!" I said, trying to contain my excitement.

" **Your welcome,** " Ellimist said nodding, " **My time is now up, I must leave you now. Take some time to explore the house before you set out, you will find many surprises here. I also say you should check your bank account. Goodbye.** " And before I could say anything more, the Ellimist disappeared in a flash of light.

I looked around the room, and let out a sigh "No going back now..." I muttered, before I blinked "Wait… 1990..." I then let out a long sigh "Great… the Xbox and the Playstation haven't been made yet… what am I gonna do during the low- hu?" he blinked as a note appeared before him, and he caught it, and as he read it, he smirked. "Thank. You. Ellimist."

' _Jordan, since I know you will be bored during the period between missions, I have sent your entire game and movie library to your new house, its in the room next to your bedroom. Including titles and systems that have not been released at this timeframe. Enjoy_.'

* * *

I spend a few minutes exploring the house, and the more I went by it, the more I loved what the Ellimist had done to it. It was as if he knew everything I would want in order to help the Animorphs as best as I could, and in more ways than one. Taking his advice, I checked how much money I had on my bank account… and I nearly fainted. I had over a Trillion dollars in money in the bank! That's almost the amount of money spent by the allies in World War II! Money will not be a problem for me for the foreseeable future. However thanks to the Ellimist, he had taken the liberty of dividing the money into multiple different accounts across the U.S, as to avoid any suspicion.

Also, I found out the house itself was huge, three stories with kitchens, bathrooms, and bedrooms. I could have twenty people live in this house comfortably, not to mention I found massive store rooms in some sort of mini-bunker under the house, which was stocked with food. I also found a room filled with exercise and training equipment.

After I explored the house enough, I went back to my room where I refreshed my memory on everything that happened in Book 1 of Animorphs, the Invasion, just to be sure I had it memorized from beginning to end. Once that was done, I found the garage of the place, where the Ellimist was kind enough to give me a new car, a Ford F-250. Its times like these I was glad I got a Licence the moment I graduated.

Thanks to the truck, I managed to follow an old dirt trail out of the woods and back onto the road, and thanks to a GPS I got into town without much trouble. As I drove the truck down the streets, I looked around at the people on the sidewalk, just normal everyday people to the naked eye… but I couldn't help but remind myself that many of these people may already be Yeerks… and that still freaked the crap out of me.

I drove the truck to the one place I knew I would find the Animorphs today: The Mall. According to the first book, this is where all of them were at before they were at the construction site. I hoped to find one of them before seven o'clock, which is when Elfangor will arrive. I spent most of my time planning on who to find, and I came to the conclusion the easiest Animorph, or future Animorph really, to find would be Tobias…

...but, after several minutes of searching, I found the biggest flaw to my plan was I had no idea where Tobias was! Even though I had a general idea what he looked like thanks to the book covers and the TV show, it wasn't much to go by. However thankfully I remembered that he liked reading, so I headed down to the Mall's book store. Fortunately for me, luck was on my side as there were only five other people in the bookstore. Other than the shop assistant at the desk, there was an old man looking at some classic novels, a young couple in the reference section, and a boy about my age, looking at the sci-fi books.

He was about average height; he had unusual shining green eyes, wild messy dark blonde, almost brown hair that stuck up in all directions, and a dreamy expression on his face as he was looking at a Star Wars book. I was almost positive it was Tobias; but 'almost positive' wasn't good enough, I had to be sure. After all, the fate of the planet was depending on me to get this right.

' _Alright, let's try this casual._ ' I thought, as I took a deep breath, casually walked up to him, and spoke "So, you like science fiction books?"

He suddenly snapped out of his daydream and looked at me suspiciously for a few seconds, and then he smiled. "Yeah I love Star Trek and Star Wars and things like that with aliens in. It's so cool!" He said, "What about you?"

"Same boat here," I said with a small chuckle, "Sci-Fi is just flat out awesome, anything is possible in it if you put your mind to it..." I then stook out my hand, "Name's Jordan, you?"

"I'm Tobias," he replied. "Nice to meet you Jordan."

My heart leaped! Yes! I had done it! I had found Tobias! But I still had a job to do. I had to stay with him until we ran into Jake and Marco; then the real game would begin. "You too," I said. "So tell me, what's your favorite Sci-Fi book so far? I love Star Wars above all else."

* * *

Me and Tobias spent a lot of time talking about Sci-Fi, and each other. It was kinda weird talking to a person I once thought as a fictional character, especially one who was one of my favorite characters. But after a while I got use to it, it was actually pretty cool to actually get to know Tobias, not only did we share the same love of Sci-Fi, but we shared similar interest in… well, almost everything else. Heck, I think I introduced him to a few things he didn't eve knew existed.

"So this… Anime stuff is really that good?" Tobias asked, as we walked out of the Bookstore together, both of us having bought several books there.

"Yeah, Anime has all sorts of stuff," I said, smiling "My favorites are Mecha Animes, like Gundam and Macross. You'd be surprise what you can find if you look hard enough for it."

Tobias smiled and nodded, he seemed much more happy than when I first met him. I knew he was always considered lonely with only a few friends, but he was practically beaming that he had a true friend now. After leaving the bookstore, we were walking when we suddenly ran into two people. One had long black hair, and brown eyes, and another guy with brown hair and eyes. I'll give you two guesses at who they were.

If you guess Jake and Marco, then your right!

"Hey Tobias, who are your friends?" Jake asked, once we caught up to them.

I stepped forward. "Hey, I'm Jordan." I said,

"Cool. I'm Jake, and this is Marco."

"What's up?" Tobias asked quickly changing the subject.

Jake shrugged. "Not much. We're heading home."

"Out of quarters," Marco commented. "Certain people keep forgetting that the Sleaze Troll shows up right after you cross the Nether Fjord. So certain people keep losing the game – and losing our quarter." Marco kept jerking his thumb at Jake, just in case we couldn't figure out who he meant by "certain people."

"So, like maybe we'll walk home with you guys," Tobias said.

"Sure" Jake said "why not?"

"I'm good with it." I said, suppressing my massive grin threatening to overcome me. As we continued walking, the four of us just told things about each other. I had to lie on just a few things, but nothing major, and I was mostly truthful when I said things like 'I just got here a while ago' and things like that.

As we walked on, we came across three girls, one with long blond hair, and sapphire blue eyes and she had that look that she just stepped out of a Magazine, another girl who looked more like she belong on a farm than in a mall, and she had dark skin and her hair was really short. I instantly recognized them as Rachel and Cassie from the covers of the books. However the third girl, I didn't recognize at first. She was easily about my age, and maybe a few inches shorter than me, she had shoulder length light brown hair, and dark blue eyes. wearing a rather simple dress shirt.

"You guys going home?" Jake asked Rachel. "You shouldn't go through the construction site by yourselves. I mean, being girls and all."

Rachel seemed to look a bit offended, as she sent a teasing glare to him "Are you going to come and protect us, you big strong m-a-a-a-n?" She asked rhetorically, "You think we're helpless just because-"

"I'd appreciate it if they did walk with us," Cassie interrupted. "I know you're not afraid of anything, Rachel, but I guess I am."

Rachel didn't say much, but rolled her eyes before she looked at Tobias, and then noticed me standing next to him "Who are you?" She asked, "Friend of yours Tobias?"

Tobias scratched the back of his head sheepishly "Just met actually, at the bookstore," he said, "But yeah, he's a friend."

"Name's Jordan, nice to meet ya." I said with a nod, still trying not to grin as the whole gang - minus Ax - were right in front of me, however I was still slightly unnerved at the third woman who was looking at me - who was she?

"Nice to meet you Jordan," Cassie said, "I'm Cassie, this is my friend Rachel, and her friend Melissa."

"Nice to meet you too." I said nodding, and the unknown girl's identity finally hitting me ' _Melissa Chapman! She's Hedrick Chapman's daughter! What is she doing here? Is she one of the changes Ellimist warned me about? Wow she looks a lot like Terra Vnesa._ '

"Hu, Funny." Melissa said with a thoughtful expression, "One of Rachel's sister is named Jordan you know."

"Yeah," Rachel said nodding, "So, we going through this thing or what?"

Nodding, we decided to finally take the short cut through the construction yard. And like that, it was just the seven of us walking through the construction site, to anyone else we would have looked like your ordinary group of Teenagers. However I knew differently, and I knew what would happen in just a few minutes.

That was when we cut through the construction site. I felt the shivers going through my spine as I gazed up at the skies, while also not looking to suspicious.

Then, I saw it.

"Look," Tobias said.

"What?" Jake asked.

"Just look," Tobias said. His voice was strange. Amazed-sounding, but serious at the same time.

So Jake looked up. And there it was. A brilliant, blue-white light that scooted across the sky, going fast at first, too fast for it to be an airplane, then slower and slower.

"What is it?" Jake asked.

Tobias shook his head. "I don't know."

I just couldn't stop grinning. He's here. I thought. He's finally here!

"It's a flying saucer!" Cassie yelled.


	2. Chapter 2

**117Jorn: For those of you who read the original version of Retaliation, Just so you are all aware, Chapters 1-5 are mostly unchanged, however Jessica and her team have been removed until close to the end of Book #1. So this first chapter is almost identical save for some tweaks to the dialogue.  
**

* * *

"A flying saucer?" Marco said, as he laughed a bit until he looked up.

I wasn't paying too much attention to them though, as my eyes were fixed on Elfangor's ship slowly descending upon us. I knew I was grinning up a storm, but I simply couldn't help myself. This was a childhood dream that was just minutes away from coming true, I was going to become an honest to god Animorph!

"It's coming this way," Rachel said, interrupting my thoughts.

"It's hard to be sure," Jake's voice was barely a whisper.

"No, She's Right, it's coming this way," Melissa confirmed.

As predicted, the ship was slowing down, like a plane arriving at an airport, about to land. We could now see the ship quite clearly.

"It's not exactly a flying saucer," Jake pointed out.

He was right of course; it looked pretty much as it has in the fan art and official images I've found on the web back in the years, as well as what the craft from _Andalite Chronicles_ looked like. It was about the size of a school bus, and the front end was like an oval shaped pod. Extending out of the back of the pod was a long narrow shaft. There were two crooked, stubby wing-like things, and on the end of each wing was a long tube that glowed bright blue on the back end. The ship looked harmless until you saw the tail. It was a mean looking tail that curved up and forward, ending in a needle-like point. "That tail must be some kind of weapon," Jake said.

"Definitely," Marco agreed.

"No shit." I said, as the ship was still losing speed, and still flying closer to us.

"It's stopping," Rachel said. Her voice was starting to sound a bit weird, like she couldn't believe it was real. I could hardly believe it myself, and I read the book!

"I think it sees us," Marco said. "Should we run? Maybe we should run home and get a camera. Do you know how much money we could get for a video of a real UFO?"

"If we run, they might… I don't know, zap us with Phasers on full power," Jake made a lame attempt at a joke.

"Phasers are only on _Star Trek_ ," Marco said, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, but that's a nasty looking tail," I said. "Besides, weren't Phasers built by the Humans in Star Trek? Most of the other species used those Disruptor cannons."

"Is now _really_ the time?" Rachel barked. I just shrugged nervously. "Just trying to keep ourselves calm, and collective." I said.

"You're not doing a real good job buddy." Marco said.

The ship stopped and hovered almost directly over our heads, maybe thirty meters in the air. I glanced at the others and nearly laughed when I looked at Rachel and Melissa, for their hair were sticking out in every direction, except Cassie looked normal since her hair was tied up in a messy knot.

"What do you think it is?" Marco asked. His voice was shaking slightly. He didn't seem so cocky with an alien space craft over his head. I was glad none of them were actually looking at me, otherwise they would see the shit-eaten grin across my face, I was just too excited to be scared.

"I think it's going to land," Tobias said. I looked at him and saw that I wasn't the only one smiling. His eyes were glowing with excitement just as mine was. I glanced at Melissa, who's eyes were showing a bit of fear as she was beginning to back away. However I felt that she needed to be here for this, and I put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Her head darted back in surprise, but I just gave her a confident smile and a nod, don't know why I just felt like it was something I should do.

Surprisingly though, Melissa seemed to calm down, if just a bit, as she smiled a bit too and stood her ground, looking back up at the alien ship as it landed. As the ship came in for a landing between the piles of junk, I noticed the top of the pod section had been badly burnt; some of it had started to melt - no doubt weapons fire from the big-bad Blade Ship. The ship touched down and the blue lights instantly went out. Rachel and Melissa's hair fell back down onto their necks.

"It isn't very big is it?" Rachel whispered.

"It's about… about three or four times the size of our minivan," Jake said.

"I'm guessing its some sort of a fighter." I said. "Like a _Slave I_ , or something. Their usually no bigger than a bus."

"Seriously, why are you so calm?" Rachel asked.

"Because if whoever or whatever is flying that thing were hostile, wouldn't they of tried to kill us already?" I retorted. "That big blade sure as hell isn't for show."

"We should tell someone," Marco said. "I mean, this is kind of major, you know? Spaceships don't just land in the construction site every day. We should call the cops or the army or the president or something. We'd be totally famous. We'd get to be on TV for sure."

"Yeah, you're right" Jake agreed. "We should call someone." But I knew that none of them would leave. They weren't going to just walk away from a spaceship.

"I wonder if we should talk to it," Rachel suggested. She was standing there with her hands on her hips looking at the spaceship like it was a puzzle she had to figure out. "I mean, we should communicate. If that's even possible."

Tobias nodded, stepped forward, and held out his empty hands to show that he wasn't carrying a weapon. In a loud, clear voice, he said, "It's safe we won't hurt you."

"Do you think they speak English?" Jake wondered aloud.

"Well, everyone speaks English on _Star Trek_ ," Cassie said with a nervous laugh.

"Please come out," Tobias pleaded. "We won't hurt you."

" _I know._ "

It wasn't nearly as strange to hear thought speak as I thought it would be. It was like hearing something but not through your ears, but feeling it through your head. Kinda like your own thoughts, however they sounded much stronger and it echos in your head a bit. I sorta expected it to be something like that, but it still caused me to jump a bit in surprise.

"Did you guys…?" Jake started.

We all nodded at once, very slowly.

"Can you come out?" Tobias asked in his loud talking-to-aliens-voice.

" _Yes. Do not be frightened._ "

"We won't be frightened," Tobias said.

"Speak for yourself," Jake muttered. The others giggled nervously.

A thin arc of light appeared, a doorway, opening slowly in the smooth side of the pod part of the ship. I stood there, gazing towards the ship, and grinning like an idiot. Waiting.

The opening grew, like a crescent moon at first, then a full, bright circle.

And then he appeared. For a moment he stood tall and proud, like the great warrior he was. He was just as I had imagined him.

My first glimpse reminded me of a Centaur from Greek Mythology. Half-human. Half-horse, of course with the addition of blue fur, a mouthless face with three strange vertical slits as nostrils, four eyes, two where any human's eyes would be, and two more on his two stalks which stuck out of his head, allowing him to see a full 360 degrees around him at all times. And of course, the last feature which really made him stand out, was that scorpion-like tail, thick and powerful with a deadly and wicked-looking stinger which looked as if it were made of some type of metal. It was obvious you did _not_ want to get hit with that thing.

"Hello," said Tobias. His voice was gentle, like he was talking to a baby. The more he grinned, the stranger he looked. Then again, I couldn't really blame him since I looked pretty much the same, the suspense of what was happening was _killing_ me. Actually seeing Elfangor was a strange, yet amazing experience. I mean yeah sure, he's an alien, who wouldn't be amazed if they saw an Alien? But for me, it was like I had a sense of déjà vu, likely because I had pictured this whole scene out in my head so many times reading Book #1, and it was all playing out almost exactly as I imagined it. Actually seeing Elfangor, eye-to-eye, it was like meeting with an old friend I hadn't seen in a long time.

" _Hello_ " Elfangor greeted us kindly.

"Hi," we all said back. Then, as predicted, he staggered a bit and fell to the ground. Tobias tried to catch him and keep him on his feet, but he slipped from his grasp and slumped back onto the ground, giving us a clear view of a large burn which ran down his right side.

"Look! Cassie yelled. She pointed at a burn that covered half the alien's right side. "He's hurt!"

" _Yes,_ " he replied. " _I am dying._ "

"Can we help you? We can call an ambulance or something," Marco said.

"We can bandage that wound," Cassie said. "Jake, give me your shirt. We can tear it up and make bandages." I knew Cassie knew a lot about animals thanks to the fact both of her parents had jobs pertaining to animals', so it was only natural for her to want to help. But the sad thing was I knew there was nothing anyone could do.

" _No. I will die. The wound is fatal._ "

"NO!" Jake cried. "You can't die. You're the first alien ever to come to Earth. You can't die."

" _I am not the first. There are many, many others._ "

"Other aliens? Like you?" Tobias demanded.

Elfangor shook his big head slowly, side to side. " _Not like me._ " Then he cried out in pain, a silent sound that echoed horribly inside my mind. For a moment, I had actually felt him dying.

" _Not like me,_ " he repeated. " _They are different._ "

"Different? How?" Melissa said.

I will remember his answer forever.

He said, " _They have come to destroy you._ " and was met with total silence. No one objected, no one shouted "No Way" or "You're making that up." I could tell they all knew that he was telling the truth. With the silence, Elfangor continued to speak. " _They are called Yeerks_ ," he said, almost as if he were cursing the very name 'Yeerk'. " _They are different than us, different from you as well._ "

"Are you telling us they're already here on earth?" Rachel demanded.

" _Many are here_ ," Elfangor said. " _Hundreds, thousands, maybe more._ "

"They must have a way to hide themselves from the public eye," I said before Marco could speak. "Stealth tech or something like that."

" _You are correct… half correct at least,_ " the Andalite said. " _Yeerks have different bodies from you and I. They live inside the bodies of other species. They are..._ " Seeming to have difficulty describing what a Yeerk looks like, Elfangor closed his eyes and concentrated, and suddenly I could see the image of a yeerk in my head. A black, greyish-green slug without a shell, only the size of a rat if not a bit smaller. ' _A Yeerk._ ' I thought, with silent contempt at the sight of the sickening creature.

"I'm guessing that was either a Yeerk or a big wad of slimy chewing gum." Marco commented.

" _They are almost powerless without hosts,_ " Elfangor continued. " _They-_ " Suddenly me and the others felt a blast of pain, straight from the alien, I could feel all of his sadness and pain, it actually felt like my head was splitting open. " _The Yeerks… are parasites,_ " he continued once the pain subsided. " _They must have a host to live in. In this form they are known as controllers. They enter the brain and are absorbed into it, taking over the hosts thoughts and feelings. They try to get the host to accept them voluntarily, it is easier that way. Otherwise the host will be able to resist, at least a little._ "

"Are you saying they take over _human beings?_ " Rachel asked, sounding disgusted as the others looked shocked as well. "People? These things take over their bodies?"

"Look, this is serious stuff," Jake said. "You shouldn't be telling us. We're just kids, you know. This is like something the government should know about."

"And if the Yeerks find him?" I asked, causing Jake to look at me surprised. "He just said there are thousands of these things on earth, thousands of… human-controllers, how do we know some of those damn things aren't in the government?"

" _He is right_ ," Elfangor said. " _We had hoped to stop them, but swarms of their Bug Fighters were waiting in ambush when our Dome ship came out of Z-Space. We knew of their mother ship and were ready for the Bug Fighters, but the Yeerks surprised us, hiding a Blade Ship on your moon, and ambushed us. We fought… but we lost. They have likely tracked me here, they will be here soon to eliminate all traces of me and my ship._ "

"Remove the evidence?" I asked, nodding. "They want to make sure no one finds you or the crash, an alien spacecraft landing on earth during this 'Secret Earth Invasion' of theirs would throw a wrench in their plans. The Yeerks must have access to advanced weaponry that's capable of making sure not a single trace of your ship survives."

" _Yes,_ " Elfangor said. " _Dracon Beams will leave nothing behind aside from a few molecules. I sent a message to my homeworld. We Andalites fight the Yeerks no matter where they are in the universe. They will send help, but it may take a year, maybe more, for such help to arrive. By then the Yeerks may have control of your planet, and after that, there will be no hope. You must tell your people, you must warn them!_ "

Another spasm of pain hit us all at once, we could tell his time had nearly come. "No one is going to believe us!" Marco said helplessly, looking at Jake as he shook his head "No way!"

"Not to mention, we don't know _who_ to approach," I added. "We don't know who's a controller and who's not! We could walk right into the Yeerks hands without even knowing it!"

"I don't care if he _thinks_ he's going to die, we have to try and help him!" Rachel said, as Melissa nodded hastily. "We can get him to a hospital, or Cassie's parents!"

" _There is no time,_ " Elfangor said, shaking his head ." _No time..._ " suddenly his eyes brightened as he raised his head. " _But perhaps..._ "

"What?" Jake asked.

" _One of you, go into my ship,_ " he said. " _You will see a small blue box, very plain. Bring it to me quickly! I have very little time, and the Yeerks will find me soon!_ "

I wanted to stand up, I wanted to be the one who went into the ship, to see what it looked like. However I stayed my ground, and allowed it to be Jake. I knew it had to happen, he had to be the one. I allowed the others to silently vote, and it was quickly apparent Jake would be the one to go.

"Go ahead," Tobias said to Jake. "I want to stay with him." He knelt beside the Andalite and placed a comforting hand on his narrow shoulder.

Jake looked at the doorway to the alien spacecraft, before he looked at Cassie who nodded "Go ahead," she said, sending him a smile. "You're not scared."

It was pretty obvious that Jake was plenty scared, however he did his best to hide it as he walked up the ramp of the Andalite Fighter, and into the ship. A few seconds passed, and soon he left, and carrying the aforementioned blue box in his hands. I did my best to hold back a smile. ' _It's time._ ' I thought.

"Here's the box," Jake said, as he handed the Andalite the box.

" _Thank you,_ " Elfangor said, and Jake seemed a bit hesitant before he spoke again "I, um… " he said. "Was that your family? That picture?"

" _Yes,_ " the Andalite said, nodding.

"I'm really sorry," Jake said, However Elfangor simply nodded, as he then held up the box for all of them to see.

" _There may be something I can do for you, to help you fight the Yeerks,_ " he said.

"What?" Rachel demanded.

" _I know that you are young,_ " Elfangor began. " _I know that you have no power with which to resist the controllers. But I may be able to give you some small powers to help you. He then indicated the box. This is a piece of Andalite Technology, one which the Yeerks do not have. A technology which allows us to go unnoticed in many parts of the universe- the power to morph. we have never shared this power, but your need is great._ "

"Morph? Morph how and what?" Rachel asked, her eyes narrowing.

" _To change your bodies,_ " he explained. " _To become any other species, any living animal whether they be sentient or not._ "

"Become animals?" I asked, attempting to feign ignorance to the true nature of Morphing.

" _You will need to touch a creature to acquire its DNA pattern,_ " Elfangor explained. " _It requires concentration and determination, but if you are strong, you can do it. There are limitations...problems, dangers even. But there is no time to explain it all… you will have to learn for yourselves. But first, do you wish to receive this power?_ "

"He's kidding… right?" Marco asked Jake.

"No," Tobias said softly. "He's not kidding."

"This is nuts," Marco said. "This whole thing is nuts, yeerks, spaceships, slugs taking over people's brains and Andalites with the power to change into animals? Give me a break."

"Yeah, this is beyond weird," Jake admitted.

"But it _has_ to be true!" I declared, catching the others by surprise. "He is _dying,_ and we are talking about the survival of our race! Yeah, we're a bunch of kids, but right now we're all earth has! I doubt I could live with myself if I said no to protecting the human race from being enslaved by a bunch of fracking slugs! If this Morphing… Cube can give us the power he claims, then we need it if we want to so much as put up a decent fight against these Frackers!"

The others looked surprised at my declaration, however Cassie soon agreed and nodded. "I'll do it too," she said, surprising all of the others once again. However then Jake said, "We should decide as a group, one way or the other."

I looked up at the sky, and saw two pinpoints of red light moving across the sky. "Then you guys better pick quickly," I said, confusing them. "'Cause I think the Yeerks are here." The others looked up, just as the two lights made a big U-Turn and started heading towards the crash sight.

" _Yeerks!_ " Elfangor cursed with venom in his voice " _He is right, we are out of time! You must decide quickly!_ "

"I'm with Cassie and Jordan," Tobias said. "We have to do this, how else can we fight the Controllers?"

"This is so insane!" Marco shouted. "Insane!"

"I'd like for more time, but we don't have time!" Rachel shouted. "Let's do it!"

"What do you say Jake?" Cassie asked the soon to be leader of the Animorphs. Jake looked up at the sky where the Bug Fighters approached, like bloodhounds chasing after a wounded fox, before he looked back down at the Andalite, before he looked at all of the others.

"We have to do it," Tobias tried to reason.

Jake finally saw he was right, and sighed "He's right… we have too."

"Melissa?" I asked Rachel's friend, who looked very indecisive and scared. "What about you?"

The daughter of Vice Principal Chapman was hesitant, as she looked at Rachel, who gave her a confident smile, before looking at the morphing cube, and then towards me. She then gave me this odd look, don't exactly know _what_ kind of look it was… but shortly after, she let out a sigh. "Let's… let's do it." She said, nodding.

" _Then each of you, put your hands on a side of the cube._ " Elfangor said, as he lifted the cube out for them all to touch. By each touch, the blue cube glowed a bit brighter, and brighter, and seven hands touched the cube together.

" _Do not be afraid,_ " Elfangor said. And a moment later, it felt like there was a short shock that hit our hands, but it didn't hurt, and we released our hands from the cube. " _Go now!_ " Elfangor said, " _Only remember this - never remain in morph for more than two earth hours, never! Otherwise you will be trapped in that form forever! It is the greatest danger of morphing!_ "

"Two hours!" Jake repeated nodding, and suddenly a new wave of fear washed through the Andalite's mind, liked as we were to him. We could all feel the wave of dread wash over us, as we all looked at the sky and saw a new ship joining the two bug fighters.

" _Visser Three! He comes!_ " Elfangor shouted.

"What?" Jake asked, visibly shaking from this new terror. "What's a Visser Three?"

" _Go now! Run! Visser Three is here!_ " Elfangor warned, " _He is the most deadly of our enemies! Of all of the Yeerks he alone has the power to Morph! The Same power you have! Run!_ "

"No, we'll stay with you!" Rachel began to say, but Melissa grabbed her shoulder.

"No, we gotta go Rachel!" she said. "We can't fight these… these Yeerks now! We need to get out of here!"

"She's right," I said. "We gotta bail, we can't die here in a hopeless fight, we need to live to fight another day!"

" _Yes, you must run! Save yourselves!_ " Elfangor said, " _Save your planet! The Yeerks are here!_ "

Jake jerked his head from the force of his command. "He's right. Let's go! Run!"

The others all ran as quickly as they could, as above them the red lights got closer and closer to their position. The only two who had yet to run were me and Tobias. Tobias knelt beside the Andalite, and took his hand. Elfangor pressed his other hand against Tobias's head, as he rocked back like he'd been shocked. A moment passed before he too ran away with the others, leaving just me and Elfangor.

"Is it alright if I acquire your DNA?" I asked the dying Andalite, who seemed to give that Andalite smile as he nodded, as I put a hand on his shoulder, and quickly acquired his DNA.

" _You are surprisingly wise... for one so young_ " Elfangor said, " _The others… they will need your help if they are to survive the Yeerks._ "

"Don't worry," I said, smiling. "I will, and I'll make sure they stay safe… including your son, Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, the Yeerks won't know what hit them when we're done.""

Elfangor looked at me in surprise, before he let out a short though-speak laugh as he realized who sent me. " _Ellimist,_ " he said, and I nodded.

"Yup," I said. "I'm here to keep them safe, don't worry… by the way, you can morph too right? If you Morph, that wound would just heal up like that."

" _I don't have enough time,_ " Elfangor said. " _By the time I try such… it will be too late, I cannot focus due to the pain… Please… promise me they will be safe… please tell me this wasn't for nothing._ "

I put a hand on his shoulder, and nodded. "It wasn't for nothing," I said to the dying warrior. "We _will_ win this war, and we will _all_ come out of this alive, that I promise you."

Elfangor nodded. " _Thank you..."_ he said. " _Please… tell my son… when the time is right that is, that I am sorry I was not there for him."_

I nodded as I stood up. "Right, I will." I said, as I began to stand up, before I noticed the Morphing Cube lying next to me. I quickly picked it up. "Don't want the Yeerks getting this, right? And I think we're gonna need more than seven kids in this war." Elfangor seemed to smile that Andalite smile as he nodded. "I'll be sure to look after your brother too when I find him… just do me one favor Elfangor… give those bastards hell."

" _Thank you… and I intend to,_ " the Andalite said, and with that, I gave the warrior a short salute, before I jumped and ran back to where the others were. Just after I left a beam of bright red light snapped on, a spotlight from one of the Bug Fighters, which lit up over the fallen Andalite and his ship, and a second light from the other Fighter joined in.

I quickly joined Jake and the others, as I hit the dirt and skid down and crouched behind a low crumbling wall. I peeked over the edge, as I watched the two Cockroach-looking fighters touch down on either side of the Andalite ship.

"Okay, you can wake me up now," Marco said in a rattled whisper. "I've had enough of this nightmare."

"It ain't over yet..." I whispered back, as the larger ship began to descend, Visser Three's Blade ship. I didn't know what I was feeling, but the closer that ship got, the more I felt like I couldn't breath, I couldn't breath a lungful of air, I felt the massive urge to run but I knew I couldn't, even my legs were shaking uncontrollably.

Soon I realized… it was fear. Pure, unadulterated fear. I knew I should have been prepared for this, from how all of the others described the Blade Ship in the books… but experiencing it myself, _seeing_ the Blade Ship with my own two eyes… it felt like the Blade Ship itself was cursed with fear. It was larger than a Bug Fighter easily, if I had to guess its size I'd of put it around 130 Meters, maybe more.

The Blade Ship landed, we watched as a loading ramp was lowered to the surface, and a door opened. Cassie began to scream, but Jake quickly clasped his hand over her mouth. Then, they jumped out of the ship, giant snake/dinosaur like creatures with blades all over them. I quickly identified them as Hork-Bajir, real living Hork Bajir.

" _Hork Bajir controllers,_ " Elfangor said in our minds, causing Jake and the others to jump in surprise. "Did you guys…?" he asked, and we all nodded.

" _The Hork Bajir are a good people, despite their fearsome looks,_ " Elfangor explained. " _They were once peaceful, but the Yeerks came and enslaved their race, each of them now a Controller. They are to be pitied._ "

"Yeah, pitied," Rachel said grimly. "They're walking killing machines. Look at them!"

However our attention was quickly diverted to the new creatures which crawled and slithered out of the blade ship, giant centipede-like creatures. " _Taxxon-Controllers,_ " Elfangor said, still trying to explain all that he could before he died. " _They are evil._ "

"Yeah, I think we would of guessed that," Marco muttered.

We watched as Hork-Bajir and Taxxons poured out of the ship, spreading out in the area to secure the perimeter, each of them holding pistol-shaped weapons which were likely Dracon Beams. One Hork Bajir approached our location, a very large one who stood practically on top of us. Jake was hugging the dirt like it was his last hope, while Marco's eyes were wide and his lips drawn back in an expression of pure terror as the Hork Bajir pointed its gun, scanning the darkness as his snake-like head swerved left and right.

" _Silence!_ " Elfangor warned out. " _Hork Bajir do not see well in Darkness, but their hearing is very good!_ "

The Hork Bajir moved closer, practically six feet away from our hiding spot now. I could hear my heart pounding in my chest, however I was trying everything I could to stay quiet. I wasn't the only one, as Jake and the others were doing everything they could to be as quiet as possible, but I could tell they were all scared shitless.

" _Courage, my friends,_ " Elfangor said calmingly, as I felt a wave of… something, some kind of warmth and courage. I could still feel the fear, but it was being nullified.

I tried to think of something, anything I could do to help them, however then I saw a small rock sitting beside me. An idea struck my head as I picked up the rock, and looking at the distance I saw a metal beam several meters away from us. I then lobbed the rock at the metal beam. The Rock hit the beam, making a loud banging noise, which was enough to draw the Hork Bajir's attention as it turned its head away from us, and walked away to investigate.

I let out a silent sigh of relief. ' _That felt WAY too close,_ ' I thought, before me and the others peaked over our cover just a bit, as we saw all of the Taxxons and Hork Bajir assembling around the Blade Ship, some of them standing stiffer than usual. "They're all standing at attention," Jake observed.

"How can you tell?" Marco whispered back. "Who knows what a Jelly-eyed centipede of a walking salad shooter from hell is standing at attention?"

"Not to different from humans apparently," I said, pointing at them ."Their all assembling around that ship… and their looking a lot more tense than before. I think this Visser Three guy is coming out to play."

Just as the words left my lips, _he_ appeared. Visser Three, and an Andalite.

" _Visser Three,_ " Elfangor said, almost as if cursing the very name.

"What the..." Rachel whispered. "Isn't he an Andalite?"

" _Only once has a Yeerk taken an Andalite Body,_ " Elfangor said. " _There is only one Andalite-Controller, that one is Visser Three._ "

Visser Three walked confidently towards Elfangor's wounded body, although they were the same species it was easy to tell the difference between the two. It appeared Visser Three was much more muscular, and seemed about a foot taller than Elfangor. But it wasn't just how he looked that was different, but how he felt. It was like he had some sort of aura of evil washing over him, like you could feel the very twistedness and foulness of his very soul.

' _Visser Three..._ ' I thought, my eyes narrowing as I looked at the monster. ' _If the others don't get to you first… I will._ '

" _Well well,_ " A new voice said in our minds, causing the others to jump in fear.

"Can he hear our thoughts?" Melissa whispered.

"If he can we're so dead I don't even want to think about it," Rachel told her.

" _He cannot hear your thoughts,_ " Elfangor said, " _As long as you don't direct them at him. You hear his thoughts because he is broadcasting them for all to hear. This is a great victory for him, so he wants all of his subordinates to hear._ "

" _What do we have here?_ " Visser three continued, walking towards him. " _A meddling Andalite? Ah, but no ordinary Andalite, Prince Elfangor-Sirinaial-Shamtul, if I am not mistaken. An honor to meet you, you're a legend. How many of our fighters have you shredded? Seven, or was it eight by the time it ended?_ "

"I bet he got way more than eight," I said with a small smirk.

"I think so too," Jake said, nodding as he forced out a smile of his own to lighten the mood.

" _The very last Andalite in this sector of space,_ " Visser Three mocked. " _Yes, I am afraid your Dome Ship has been destroyed completely, what was left of it burnt up in this little world's atmosphere._ "

" _There will be others,_ " Elfangor shot back, but Visser Three just laughed as he took another step forward.

" _Yes, but by then it will be too late,_ " he said. " _When they come, this planet will be mine! My own contribution to the Yeerk Empire. Our greatest conquest, and then I'll be Visser One! "_

"So Visser is a ranking structure..." I whispered, making sure the others could hear me "Visser One must be the top rank a Yeerk can gain."

" _What do you want with these humans?_ " Elfangor asked. " _You have your Taxxon Allies, your Hork-Bajir Slaves, and the other slaves from other worlds! Why these people?_ "

" _Because there are so many, and they are so weak!_ " the Yeerk-Controlled Andalite sneered, " _Billions of bodies! And they have no idea what is happening! With this many hosts we can spread through the galaxy, the universe even! We will be unstoppable! Billions of us! We'll have to build a thousand new Yeerk Pools to raise enough Yeerks for half this number of bodies, and hundreds of ships just to transport them across the stars! Face it Andalite, your kind have fought well and bravely, but you have lost!_ "

Visser Three stepped right up to the Andalite, we could feel the Andalite's fear. But rather than cower, he fought the pain of his wound and climbed to his feet. He knew he was going to die, but he wanted to die on his feet looking his enemy in the face.

However, Visser Three was not done taunting his foe. " _I promise you one thing, Prince Elfangor - when we have this planet, with its rich harvest of bodies, we will move against the Andalite home world. I will personally hunt down your family, and I will personally oversee the placement of my most faithful lieutenants in their heads. I hope that they will resist, so I can hear their minds screaming for mercy._ "

I let out a growl of anger towards Visser Three. I knew the bastard was evil, but _this_ was a whole new level of low. Visser Three wasn't just evil, he was arrogant and a all-out monster. ' _You are SO fucking dead when I am done with you!_ ' I snarled in my mind.

Then, in a split second, Elfangor struck! His tail whipped up and over so fast you couldn't even see it, practically at the speed of a bullet. Visser Three twisted his head aside, causing Elfangor's blade to miss his head by a bare inch and a half, but it still hit his shoulder, slicing a nice deep slash as dark green blood sprayed from the wound, and Visser Three shouted in pain.

"Yes!" Jake hissed, and I grinned. And at the same time, a blinding beam of blue light shot from the tail of the Andalite Ship, which sliced into the nearest Bug Fighter. As the Taxxons and Hork Bajir scattered while what little of the Bug Fighter that wasn't vaporized fell to the ground in a satisfying explosion.

"Haha! Nice!" I said, my voice being drowned out by the sound of the explosion, even Marco had a smirk on his face.

" _Fire!_ " Visser Three shouted. " _Burn his ship!_ "

The night exploded in blinding lights, as a quad of red beams lanced from the Blade Ship and the remaining Bug Fighter, impacting against the Andalite ship, causing a chain of explosions followed by what was left of the Andalite ship to dissolve and disappear, the second Bug Fighter then wasting no time as it destroyed what was left of the crashed Bug Fighter.

Then, in the flash and glow of the Dracon Beams, I could see humans, a small group of them were in the shadows behind Visser Three. "There _are_ people over there..." Jake whispered.

"What?" Marco asked sounding surprised. "Are they prisoners?"

"More likely Human-Controllers," I said as Visser Three glared at Elfangor, who was looking rather pleased with his handiwork against the Yeerks. " _Take the Andalite,_ " the Yeerk Commander ordered his soldiers. " _Hold him for me._ "

Three Hork-Bajir grabbed Elfangor and held him down, grabbing his arms and his tail blade, and holding their sharp blades at his neck. However I knew they would not kill Elfangor - that 'privilege' belonged to Visser Three alone.

Then me and the others watched, in horror, as Visser Three began to _morph._ This is the first time I had ever seen anything morph… and it scared the shit out of me. Visser Three's head began to grow larger and larger, his four horse-like legs merged into two massive legs which were bigger than redwood trees, and the Andalite Arms transformed into tentacles. And in its bloated hideous head, a mouth appeared, filled with teeth as long as a human's arm, and the mouth just became wider and wider, becoming a monstrous, and terrifying grin.

"This isn't real," Cassie whispered close to tears. "This isn't real."

"R-r-r-r-a-a-a-w-w-w-w-g-g-g-g!" The fully morphed abomination Visser Three had become roared, in a voice so loud we had to cover our ears, I could feel my teeth rattling from the sound of the roar, and I could hear some of the others whimpering in fear.

I didn't blame 'em, 'cause I was barely holding it together myself. Reading about something horrible was one thing, but actually witnessing it with your own two eyes - _and_ knowing what would happen next…

"R-r-r-r-a-a-a-w-w-w-w-g-g-g-g!" The beast roared out again, the beast making the Hork-Bajir and Taxxons harmless in comparison. It then reached out with one thick tentacle and grabbed the Andalite by the neck.

"No, no, no, no, no, no..." Cassie whispered over and over again, they all knew what was going to happen next. Melissa was in a similar state, her eyes wide in horror and shaking her head, obviously wanting to wake up for this nightmare.

"Don't look," Rachel said, as she put her arms around Cassie's shoulders and held her close, and then she reached out and held Tobias's hand. I did my best to help Melissa as well, but the most I could do was put a hand on her shoulder, and tried to get her to look away. But she resisted, as she knew - she _knew_ she had to see this. Just as I knew I had to as well.

We watched helplessly, as Visser Three lifted Elfangor straight into the air, tearing him from the grasp of the Hork-Bajir. The Andalite Prince struck again and again with his tail blade, but each strike was doing little to nothing against the beast's thick hide, as Visser Three held Elfangor in the air, and then he opened his mouth wide.

"You filthy..." I heard Jake growl as he began to jump to his feet, snatching up a piece of rusted iron pipe from the ground and started to climb over the wall.

"Get down!" I hissed, as me and Marco grabbed Jake by his shirt before he could get far, and pulled him back as Tobias helped keep him down, and Rachel put a hand over his mouth.

"Shut up you idiot!" Marco hissed. "You're just going to get us all killed!"

"Jake, don't!" Cassie said, putting her hand on his cheek. "He doesn't want you to die for _him,_ Don't you realize? He's dying for _us._ "

"Let him die with some honor, Jake," I said cryptically, causing some of the others too look at me oddly. I was staring at the scene, watching it unfold before my eyes, which were slowly beginning to water up. "He's doing this, so we may live to fight another day… which I _intend_ on doing."

Then, I watched as Visser Three dropped Elfangor into his mouth, and the teeth of the great best ripped him apart, as Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul died before my very eyes, all of us hearing his cries of despair echoing through our heads. Cries we would _never_ forget. My fists were clenched so badly I could've sworn they were bleeding now.

While some of the others turned away, I continued to watch as Human and Hork-Bajir controllers laughed and cheered at the Visser's 'Great Victory', while the Taxxons scattered and tried to consume whatever pieces of the Andalite's flesh were not consumed by the Visser.

Then, Visser Three began to morph out, as he began to return to his Andalite dody " _Ah,_ " he said. " _Nothing like a good Antarean Bogg morph for… taking a bite out of your enemies._ "

The Hork-Bajir and Humans began laughing again, finally I turned away as I saw Marco was about to lose his lunch. "Guys," I whispered. "Get ready to run."

Marco finally lost his lunch, and the sound of him throwing up caught the attention of the closest Hork-Bajir who's snake head turned to our direction, perfectly still as its near-sighted eyes narrowed towards us, trying to make us out from the shadows.

"...Time to Run!" I hissed, and almost instantaneously I and the others _bolted_ as fast as our legs could carry us as the Hork Bajir cried out in alert.

"Split up!" Jake shouted, "They can't follow all of us!"

And split up we did, as Marco and Cassie split off in two directions, while me, Melissa and Tobias bolted in another as Jake and Rachel fled their own way. The Yeerks splitting up to follow us.

"Follow me!" I called out, as I ran towards an alleyway where I had parked the truck earlier.

"But you don't-"

"I can get it started! Just hop in!" I shouted as I opened the door - the two not questioning me further as the Yeeks sounded as if they were getting closer as they hopped into the back bed of the Ford.

I grabbed the keys from the glove compartment, noticing something falling out. Before I could pay closer attention, a Taxxon crawled into the Alley, hissing as it looked at us. "Hang on!" I called out, as I hit floored it as the truck skid forward. The Taxxon actually seemed to adopt an expression of surprise… and quickly horror as it tried to crawl out of the way.

Too late.

The truck _slammed_ into the centipede-like alien, painting the truck with its gooey insides which splashed across it. I turned on the windshield whipers to clear out some of the gore, and noticed several more Taxxons approach… thankfully their cannibalistic nature was what saved us as they focused more on their fallen comrade than us as I hit the gas.

Unfortunately a Hork-Bajir didn't have that same weakness, as it ran towards us - practically jumping onto the truck. "MOTHERFUCKER!" I shouted, ducking as it tried to lash out one of its bladed arms towards me. It was then however that I noticed what fell out from the glove compartment… a Heckler & Koch MK 23 if he was correct… which he really hoped he was as he grabbed the pistol and pulled it up, pointing it at the Hork-Bajir's head.

The Controller actually blinked in surprise, and the last thing he saw was a hail of .45 Super rounds pierced through its skull and practically obliterating its head as the beast collapsed - the truck rocking as it rolled over the dead corpse of the Hork-Bajir's head, which undoubtably crushed the Yeerk inside assuming it survived the gunshots.

I swerved the truck around down a curve and drove it down the street as fast as I could. I kept looking behind to ensure we weren't being followed… thankfully it looked like we gave them the slip - no signs of any Controllers following, it looked more like they were too busy trying to herd the Taxxons back before someone saw them, and the remaining Bug Fighter was too busy removing the evidence with the Blade Ship.

I took several calming breaths, as I looked at the gun in my hands. "Ellimist… you beautiful, glorious bastard you…" I muttered, before I turned around to check on the others - opening a window. "You two alright?"

Both looked understandably shaken - Melissa moreso, though even Tobias looked fairly frozen. My voice must've snapped them out of it, as Tobias blinked before looking at me. "Y-Yeah! I… I guess..." He said. "That… h-holy shit..."

I nodded in agreement, before I turned to Melissa, whose face looked rather shell-shocked, with wide eyes and an expression of disbelief.

"Melissa?" I said, once I gained some of my breath back to the point I was heaving for air. "Melissa, you alright?" I snapped my fingers in front of her face, which finally snapped her out of it as she shook her head, and looked between me and Tobias. "Wha… huh?" she said.

"You alright Melissa?" I repeated, needing to make sure she was alright. "I know what happened back there wasn't pretty..."

Melissa was silent for a few moments, but she finally nodded her head. "I… I'm fine..." she whispered. "I-I can't believe this is happening..."

"Neither can I..." Tobias said. "That..." he looked back towards me… and grinned "That… was _awesome_ what you did!"

I chuckled slightly while I took a few more breaths. "People who say we shouldn't open-carry guns… can go suck it now." I said, trying to add some humor to de-intensify the situation.

"You… saved us..." Melissa said, looking at me. "T-Thank you..."

"Lucky shots," I said, "Well… thankfully that seems to be the last of them… and it looks like those… Taxxons fucks like to eat their own… goddamned cannibals..."

"So… what now?" Tobias asked.

"Right now, we _all_ need to go home," I said firmly, looking up at the dark skies. "Your families might start to worry if you're not home soon, its gotta be 'bout eight or nine right now. Just tell me where ya live, and I'll drop you off at your homes."

Melissa didn't seem too sure at the mention of her parents, and neither did Tobias. I knew why, but they didn't seem to complain about a free ride home after nearly being killed and/or eaten. I followed their directions and dropped each of them off at their homes before I myself headed back to the house the Ellimist set me up with.

After I parked my truck, and locked the house down, I immediately headed to my bedroom, flopped down in bed, and tried to get some sleep. However my first few minutes were not very successful, as I continued to replay that moment of Elfangor dying over and over again. I tried to fight back the tears, but they were slowly beginning to overcome me.

' _I could've saved him..._ ' I thought. ' _He could've been saved..._ ' I continued to think this, however at the same time I knew that I was wrong. I _couldn't_ of saved Elfangor, and even if I could…I still couldn't. I knew deep down, that Elfangor's death _needed_ to happen, Jake, Rachel, Cassie, Tobias, Marco, even Melissa and Me… we _all_ needed to see what happened this night. We needed to see what we were facing.

' _He will be avenged,_ ' I thought to myself, my eyes narrowing. ' _Elfangor will be avenged… and not just him, but so will everyone else… everyone the Yeerks had killed or enslaved. We will avenge and save them all… this I promise._ '

A few minutes passed, and finally, _somehow_ I drifted off into dreamless sleep.

* * *

 **117Jorn: And there you have it! As you can see its been a bit rewriten removing Titanic X's character - though that doesn't mean she won't appear later… I just modified it a bit so she and her team won't be appearing until much later on, and even then it won't be… the same.**


	3. Chapter 3

After a night of sleep, finally the sun began to rise of the horizon, as the sun's rays hit my eyes though the window. I groaned a bit as I finally woke up ' _Well… here we go again._ ' I thought as I sat up in my bed, and cranked my neck a bit before standing up. ' _Another day in the Animorphs world… let's hope I can survive it._ ' I guess I was pretty fortunate I didn't have any dreams about what happened last night, or rather Nightmares. God knows if I did I wouldn't have gotten _any_ sleep last night.

I spent the first hour going through my normal routine like I would back at home. Shower, get dressed, breakfast, the usual. However I spent a considerable amount of time buffing out the scratches in my truck from the Hork-Bajir, and cleaning off the alien blood. Trust me when I say that alien blood does _not_ come off easy. And for extra protection I swapped the license plates on the truck just on the off-chance a Controller got a good look at my Ford. I then spent time looking at a map of the area where I and the Animorphs lived in that the Ellimist managed to provide me here in the house. Thankfully he took the time to place markers on where everyone's house was, so I could memorize where each one was at.

However, as I was looking through the map, I heard the phone going off causing me to blink ' _Who knows my phone number?_ ' I thought, as I heard it ring. However I decided to answer it, as I picked it up "Hello?"

" _Hey, is this Jordan?_ "

"Yeah?" I said. "This is…?"

" _It's me, Tobias,_ " the person said. " _Remember? We met at the Mall and the construction site?_ "

I blinked and thought back, and then I remembered I gave Tobias my phone number while we were at the mall. "Ah, right! Tobias," I said. "Good to hear from ya man, what's up? You alright?"

" _Yeah, but I barely got any sleep,_ " he said. " _With everything that's happened… look, are you doing anything today?_ "

"Uhh, no actually," I said, leaning back in my chair. "I was going to try and find you and the others from the site… I think it goes without saying we need to discuss our next move."

" _Yeah,_ " Tobias said. " _I was going to head over to Jake's house… we need to get his opinion on this thing. You want to come with me?_ "

"Sure," I said, looking on the map for where Jake's house was listed. "What's the address?" Tobais gave me the address and I followed it on the map, and sure enough it was listed as 'Jake's house' already; I used a marker and circled it. "Alright, I'll see you there… by the way… have you tried… _that_ yet."

Tobias was quiet for a moment, before he answered. " _I did,_ " Tobias said, I could hear the excitement in his voice ." _I morphed Dude, my cat._ "

I blinked. "You named your cat Dude?" I asked. I remembered it from the book, but actually hearing someone naming their cat Dude…

" _I was younger when I named him!_ " Tobias said defensively and I chuckled a bit.

"Its alright man, I understand," I said. "My grandma named her cat Daisy, only to find out it was a boy cat at the last minute. Dude ain't the weirdest name I've heard."

Tobias laughed a bit himself " _So, what about you?_ " he asked. " _Have you morphed yet?_ "

I paused for a moment, not sure how to answer that. Should I tell him I acquired Elfangor already? I hadn't had the chance to morph him yet, but I knew I had to get use to the whole morphing thing sooner or later.

"Not yet," I said, "I need to find something good to morph into… if what he said is true, we can morph into any living creatures, but I'd rather my first morph _not_ be something like a fly or a mosquito."

I could tell Tobias shivered at that. " _Tell me about it,_ " he said. " _Trust me when I say this: morphing Dude was freaky. I don't even want to think what morphing into a bug will be like._ "

"Yeah," I said nodding. "Well, I'll see you at Jake's house. See ya."

" _See ya,_ " he said, and we both hung up.

A few minutes passed, and I once again found myself in my new truck, heading down the road back into town, looking at the map as I followed its directions to Jake's house.

It didn't take too long for me to drive up into Jake's neighborhood, I drove the Ford through the street as I spotted Jake's house quickly. I drove a bit further away, looking for a good parking space which was a few blocks away. By the time I successfully parked and walked back to Jake's house, I arrived just as Tobias was walking up to the house's driveway.

"Yo!" I said, raising my hand as Tobias approached. "So this is Jake's house?"

"Yeah," Tobias said nodding as we walked up towards the front door. "He and his family's lived here for a while now." With that, he rang the doorbell, a few moments passed before the door opened, and Jake's mother opened the door. She instantly recognized Tobias and smiled. "Tobias! Its good to see you!" she said, before she noticed me. "Who is this?"

"This is Jordan, he's a friend," Tobias said, and I nodded. "Me and Jake met him the other day at the Mall."

"Its nice to meet you Mrs. ****," I said politely nodding my head. ( **AN: I know most people reading this already know Jake and his family's last name, but for the sake of those who don't… not telling.** )

Jean smiled a bit. "Nice to meet you as well, Jordan," she said. "I think Jake is still asleep, but I'll see if I can wake him up. Come on in!"

We both nodded as we stepped into Jake's house, it was pretty nice I guess. Just your ordinary house with a living room, kitchen and all of that.

"Hey Tobias," a voice said, and another person walked towards us. Looking at him, I immediately recognized him as none other than Jake's older brother, Tom.

A confirmed Human-Controller.

"Hey Tom," Tobias said, smiling a bit as he nodded. "How ya been?"

"Pretty good," Tom said nodding. "Same old same old I guess." He then glanced at me, a small eyebrow raised. "And you are…?"

"Jordan," I said, forcing up a smile as I extended my hand to shake his, "I'm Tobias's friend. Are you Jake's brother?"

Tom smiled. "Yeah, nice to meet you," he said, as we shook hands. But I knew what Tom _really_ was behind the human mask he held, another Yeerk in disguise. But I knew Tom himself was a good guy, and I had every intention to save him from his fate in the books. ' _Soon Yeerk… soon._ ' "Nice to meet you too." I said.

"You new around here?" Tom asked, and I nodded. "Yeah," I said. "I moved in a few weeks ago, I use to live in South Carolina, but I moved here."

"Really? Nice," Tom said nodding, "You move here with your family?"

I shook my head. "Nah, moved here alone," I said. "I graduated from High School a few years ago, been living on my own thanks to the money my parents left me when they… left."

"Oh, sorry to hear that," Tom said, very convincingly trying to sound sympathetic. But I reminded myself he was just another Yeerk _acting_ sympathetic, and would likely try to get me to join 'The Sharing' and try and put a Yeerk in my head. "Where do you live?"

"In the woods, around some mountains," I said, trying to be as vague as possible without sounding too suspicious. "I have a house there, use to be a vacation house my parents used, but they gave it to me after I graduated."

"Nice," Tom said. "Say, since you're new here… maybe you could come with me and my friends to the beach tonight? I'm with a group called The Sharing, and they're having a barbeque down there."

' _And, there it is._ ' I thought. ' _Trying to get a Yeerk in my head already, eh Tom?_ ' However, I had to play it cool and I smiled. "That sounds nice," I said. "I might be able to show up."

"Sweet!" Tom said smiling. "A lot of other people are gonna show up."

After speaking with Tom, Jake's mom managed to get Jake awake, and after saying goodbye to Tom I followed Tobias to Jake's room. It pretty looked just as I imagined it, just your average teenager's room with posters, desks and a computer. I mentally groaned as I saw how old the Computer looked, which by this universe's standards, must be fairly modern ' _Right, 1990's, not 2010's._ ' I mentally reminded myself. ' _Thank god the Ellimist gave me my stuff from back home._ '

"Who are you?" Jake asked me, once we walked inside and I closed the door.

"What, you don't remember?" I asked, giving him an incredulous look. "Last night? Construction Site? Aliens invading?"

Jake blinked a bit as he thought back, he must of realized it then as he made an 'ah' look. "Right, uhh… Jordan, right?" he asked, and I nodded, smiling.

"Yeah," I said. "Glad to see you made it home in one piece Jake."

Jake just shook his head. "Yeah, uhh… so, why are you two here?" he asked as he began to yawn.

"I did it," Tobias said, as he looked like he was practically glowing. "I became Dude."

Jake stopped in mid-yawn, and his mouth snapped shut. "Huh?" he asked.

Tobias glanced around the room like there might be spies in the room (not to far from the truth if you asked me) "I _became_ Dude!" he repeated. "Just like the Andalite said!"

Jake just stared at Tobias as if he had just grown a second head, while Tobias continued. "It was so amazing," he said as he started pacing back and forth, snapping his fingers and bursting with enthusiasm. "It didn't hurt or anything, I was petting him, and thinking about the whole thing last night, right? So I thought, why not give it a try? I didn't even know how to begin, so I just made sure the door to my room was locked. Fortunately, my uncle was still asleep."

The mention about his uncle caused me to slightly wince a bit, but thankfully Jake was too busy looking at Tobias, while Tobias was too busy explaining about his experience morphing for the first time. I remember how both Jake and Tobias explained his family, how he never knew his father and his mother left him a few years ago. He had to move in-between his aunt and uncle who live on opposite ends of the U.S, neither of them particularly caring about Tobias, thinking of him more as a burden than family.

The thought of it disgusted me a bit, how they would have such little care about their own family. I was considering that, if Tobias didn't like living with them anymore, I'd shoot him the offer of moving into my place. It was massive, had plenty of room, and it beats living with an un-appreciating aunt or uncle.

I then thought to how, or even if I should keep Tobias from being stuck in his hawk morph. One one hand, keeping Tobias from being stuck as a hawk would be a _huge_ change in Animorphs. However at the same time there have been several instances where Tobias having a bawk for a body had helped the Animorphs tremendously, such as the Arc where they fool the Yeerks in thinking the Anti-Morphing Ray didn't work. It was a decision I knew I _had_ to make sooner or later.

By that point, Tobias was in the process of explaining Dude's reaction to when he began morphing. "...seen the real Dude. He was going _nuts!_ I had to put him outside before I morphed all the way, but he clawed me up pretty good. Thankfully I found out that Morphing actually heals wounds."

"Thank God for that!" I said with a small chuckle.

"Um… Tobias?" Jake asked. "Is it possible you maybe just dreamed this all up?"

"Not a dream," Tobias said, as he adopted a much more serious look as his grin disappeared. "It's all true, Jake… all of it."

"If you're still thinking its all a dream… why am I here?" I asked Jake, causing him to blink and look at me. "I was there, and we haven't met until last night. So unless I am some weird figment of your imagination Jake… everything that happened last night, _actually happened._ "

"He's right," Tobias said, turning back to Jake. "I didn't dream this Jake, I just kept concentrating on changing and in a few minutes, I was… not myself anymore. You guys have no idea what it's like…Being a cat is so...it's… I can't even describe it. You're so strong, for one thing. Just all of this coiled power, and the way you can move! You know what I did? I jumped into my dresser three feet straight up in the air, and I landed like a feather. Three feet! You know how high that is when you're a cat? It's like a person jumping thirty feet straight up!"

Tobias then looked at Jake, who had a very confused look on his face. "You don't believe me, do you?" he asked.

Jake sighed. "Look… Tobias, its just..." he began. "It's just that sometimes its hard to tell the difference between something real and something you're just imagining or dreaming."

"We're not crazy, Jake." I said before Tobias could retort. "This isn't a dream, and last night wasn't a dream, unless we _all_ shared that dream somehow simultaneously. I understand where you are coming from Jake, though. You don't _want_ to believe last night happened. Aliens? Mind-controlling slugs? Morphing? Who wouldn't want to believe it. I don't want to believe it, but I have to because it's the truth. What about Visser Three? The Andalite Elfangor? Can you so easily forget what Elfangor did for us? Sacrificing his life so we might live?"

Jake seemed to wince a bit, as he didn't seem to 'pretend' the Andalite away. Tobias sighed as he put his hand on Jake's arm. "Stand right there," he said.

"What?" Jake asked. "What are you doing?"

"I'm gonna help you decide whether it's real or not," Tobias said, smiling. Jake was about to protest, but Tobias cut him off. "Just wait, and don't scream or anything."

I began to smile once again, as I knew what was going to happen as Tobias stood still. At first, nothing seemed to happen...but then I noticed his eyes began to shift, his pupils were changing shape and gaining a reflective greenish light in them, turning into slitted cat's eyes. And then his mouth was starting to protrude a bit, puffing out. And then he started shrinking, honest to god shrinking. It was kinda weird to watch someone just… shrink, getting smaller and smaller as their clothes just started to fall off because he was so small. And as he shrank, I could see his fur beginning to grow over his hands, neck and face, grey striped black fur.

It was just so surreal actually seeing someone morph. It wasn't like when Visser Three morphed that giant Bogg creature thing at the Construction Site. I didn't feel scared. This time I felt excited. Tobias wasn't done, as his ears began to relocate to the top of his head becoming much more cat-like, and whiskers poking out from beneath his pink nose, and he was soon forced to drop to all fours as he grew out a long fur-covered tail.

Moments later, it was all over. And wiggling out of the mess of clothes appeared Tobias, as a cat. Jake's expression was priceless as he looked at Tobias with wide eyes and a look of pure disbelief on his face. "I hope I'm still asleep," he muttered. "I really do."

" _You're not asleep,_ " Tobias affirmed, speaking through thought-speak, causing Jake to jump.

"Was that you?" he demanded at the cat. The whole seen looking quite funny from my perspective seeing Jake talking to a cat.

" _You can hear me?_ " Tobias asked, sounding surprised.

"Yes," Jake said cautiously while I nodded myself.

" _I didn't know I could send thoughts like this,_ " Tobias said. " _Just like the Andalite..._ "

"Makes sense," I said nodding while both Jake and cat-Tobias looked at me. "From what we saw last night, Andalite's don't have mouths so they communicate through telepathy, through thoughts. Since they made morphing tech, they must of designed it with this in mind so any morph they acquire can possess the same telepathy Andalites have."

" _You think we can we use it out of morph too?_ " Tobias asked.

I decided to give it a shot, as I tried to think the words. ' _Do you hear this Tobias?_ ' However when he didn't respond I spoke. "No, doesn't look like it. I tried to think out-loud if you hear me, but since you didn't respond, you obviously couldn't…. we can only use the thought-speak when we're in morph it appears."

" _That sucks, but its better than nothing I guess,_ " Tobias said. " _Hey, watch this!_ " Suddenly Tobias leaped through the air, pouncing precisely on an autographed baseball lying in the corner in a four-feet jump. " _That was excellent! Hey, pull a string for me to chase!_ "

Both me and Jake blinked at that, as we glanced at one another. "Why?" Jake asked.

" _Because its so fun!_ " Tobias shouted, almost sounding like a little kid honestly.

I sighed before Jake could find a string, I decided to spare Tobias the embarrassment "Tobias… you're asking us to let you play with a piece of string," I said. "You know how weird that sounds?"

Tobias seemed to pause, as his tail twitched as he looked up at me, and then back at Jake. " _Uhh… s-sorry?_ " he said, sounding rather sheepish. " _I don't know what came over me… it was like… I'm me but...I'm also Dude. I want to chase things… ah man, if there were only a real live mouse around! I'd love to track it! Follow it so quietly-_ "

"Tobias, calm down," I said interrupting his thoughts, "I think we're learning some more facts about Morphing."

" _What do you mean?_ " Tobias asked, tilting his cat head to the side looking confused. " _What is it?_ "

"I don't think you're just Tobias while in morph," I said, "You are also a cat at the same time, with all of those cat instincts, since you want to do the things a cat would do. I remember reading up an article awhile ago, something about Genetic Memory. It's a theory that the memories of one's ancestors are passed down into subsequent generations through DNA, which enables instinctive skills in animals. When you acquired Dude's DNA, you must have also acquired his genetic memories, instincts, of a cat. So you are in a way two minds in one body, the human mind, and the cat mind. But it looks like the cat mind can easily overcome a human mind if you're not prepared for it."

Both Jake and Tobias looked at me in surprise, before Tobias spoke " _Yeah, that kinda makes sense,_ " he said. " _I can feel it. It's like I'm two different animals melded into one. I can think like a person_ and _like a cat._ "

"You'd better change back," Jake said, and Tobias nodded his cat head up and down, which to me looked very weird to see a cat acting so human. " _You're right,_ " he said. as he began to morph back into his human form. I redirected my gaze since I knew none of the Animorphs had figured out how to morph clothes yet. I made a mental note to figure out how to morph clothes that _wasn't_ leotards or similarly tight clothes. I know it was possible, since the Andalite scientist Estrid-Corill-Darrath knew how to do it, so I made a mental note to figure out how it was possible.

Anyways, Tobias finished morphing back to human form, and quickly got back into his clothes. "Maybe after some practice we can figure out how to morph back _into_ our clothes." He said.

"Amen," I said, nodding. "I guess the Andalites never thought about the need of morphing in clothes."

"Wait, wait wait… _we?_ " Jake asked.

"Jake, don't you get it?" Tobias asked. "If I can do it, so can you! And so can Jordan and the others!"

Jake shook his head. "I don't think so..." he began, before I groaned.

"Jake, we just saw Tobias morph before our eyes," I said. "Everything that happened last night happened. Elfangor gave us these powers for a purpose, and I am a firm believer that thing don't 'just happen', _everything_ has a purpose."

"Fine, then you use them!" Jake snapped, but Tobias shook his head.

"We will, but we need you most of all Jake."

"Why me?"

Tobias hesitated for a split second. "Geez Jake, don't you understand?" he asked. "I know what I can or can't do, I know my limits. I can't make plans and tell people what to do. I'm not a leader, you are."

Jake just laughed a bit rudely. "I'm not the leader of anything," he said, but Tobias just looked at Jake with his deep troubled eyes.

"Yes, Jake, _you_ are our leader," he said. "You are the one who can bring us all together and help us defeat the Controllers. We have the ability to be much more than we are, to have the stealth of a cat, and… the eyes of an eagle, the sense of smell of a dog, and the speed of a horse or cheetah. We're going to need it all, if we have any hope of holding out against the Controllers."

I saw that Jake had a very conflicted look across his face, and who could blame him? This was the most important decision he would have to make. He may have wanted to not believe it was all true, but the facts were facts. He knew he had to take this role. "Well..." he said a bit grimly. "I guess I'd better find Homer."

I looked at my watch. "Sorry guys, I gotta go now," I said. "I got some things I need to take care of in town, you know a place where we can regroup with the others?"

"Cassie's barn would probably be the best place," Tobias said, as he told me the address. "It's outside of town, can't miss it."

"Thanks. See ya," I said, before I turned and left Jake's room, and then left the house. I would have stayed and watched Jake's first morph, however I knew I myself needed to conquer my first morph as well sooner or later. Not to mention there were things I need to prepare for tonight when I went to the Sharing meeting at the beach.

However, first things first: I needed to head to Cassie's barn, so I could find something to morph into.

After getting into my truck again, I made my way to Cassie's barn following Tobias's instructions. It wasn't that hard. In fact Cassie's barn wasn't that too long of a drive from where I lived.

I found a decent place to park, and I walked the rest of the way there. As I walked, I could see Cassie's barn coming up. It looked like your standard red barn with fences with cows and horses that were just being cows and horses. I then noticed there was a woman near one of the fences, and I made a wild guess that it was Cassie's mom. She appeared to be tending too large a bird, some type of Hawk I believed.

"Hello!" I said, deciding I might as well introduce myself. The woman turned and smiled a bit.

"Well hello!" she said. "Who are you?"

"My name's Jordan," I said nodding. "I was wondering if Cassie were around here, Tobias told me she lived here?"

"Ah, your friends with Tobias?" she asked, and I nodded. "Nice to meet you, I'm Michelle, Cassie's mother."

"Nice to meet you," I said, as we shook hands, before I looked at the hawk. "Is that a… Goshawk?" I asked, briefly recalling the bird-of-prey from one of my old Zoobooks from when I was a kid.

"Indeed it is!" Michele said, a bit surprised but still smiling. "A Northern Goshawk to be precise. You know you're zoology."

"I just remember things I picked up as a kid," I said, chuckling slightly. "I loved animals when I was a kid, still do I guess." It was then I noticed some sort of bandages around one of its wings. "What happened to it?"

"We found her in the forest a week ago," she answered as she gently stroked the Goshawk's feathers. "She broke her wing somehow, so we brought her here to the Clinic to heal her up. She should be ready to fly in a week or two more."

"Ouch..." I said, wincing slightly. I once broke my leg when I was a kid, it hurt like hell. I raised my hand, and began to stroke his undamaged wing. "She's beautiful though."

The Goshawk made a brief shout, causing me to blink and Michele to laugh a bit. "She liked the compliment," she said. "Would you like to hold her?"

"S-Sure," I said nodding, as she handed the bird to me. I remembered how to hold a bird like a hawk from some school field trip a few years ago, as I let the Goshawk rest herself on my bare arm. She was an amazing animal, looking so powerful. It was no wonder Tobias liked Hawks so much.

I also saw this was the golden opportunity. I was looking for to get my first bird-of-prey morph, so I focused on the Goshawk, doing what I was instructed as I acquired the hawk's DNA. The Goshawk looked at me as I did the process, but it did not jump away, just appeared to be in a trance.

Just as soon as it happened, I successfully acquired the Morph. "She's amazing," I said. "Ya know when I was a kid I always wondered what it would be like to be a hawk."

Michele laughed a bit. "I believe many have wondered what it was like," she said before I handed the Hawk back to her. "Anyways, you should find Cassie in the Barn, probably with her friends Rachel and Melissa… also, if your interested, we could use some Volunteers here at the barn during the weekdays… if your interested..."

I actually kinda liked the offer, considering I didn't have much to do other than help the Animorphs against the Yeerks. So I thought… why not? "I'm interested," I said smiling. "I'd love to help out however I can!"

"Great!" she said excitedly. "We can use all the help we can get, we only have a few people around to help during the weekdays since most kids are at school. It would mean a lot if you could help out. Cassie can help you get situated."

"Thank you, and I'm happy to help!" I said, and after saying my goodbyes I headed for the Farm to find Cassie.

I walked up towards the barn itself, and as I approached I could hear voices coming from inside.

"This is… I don't even know what to say..." One voice, this one obviously from Rachel. "Cassie you're…"

" _A Horse?_ " A thought-speak voice said, nearly causing me to jump a bit, but then I realized Cassie had likely just morphed horse for the first time. " _I know, its amazing!_ "

"Great, a talking horse..." another voice, this one coming from Melissa said. "I think Marco would say something along the lines of 'this is insane' or something."

I walked up to the entrance, as I knocked on the door. "Hello?" I said, and I heard a series of hushed whispers. "Cassie? You in there, it's me, Jordan. You know, from uhh… last night?"

There was a short minute of silence, until the door creaked open and standing there was Rachel, who looked at me with a critical eye. "You… were with Tobias, right?" she asked, keeping an eye on me.

"Yeah," I said nodding. "You're Rachel, right? Cassie's friend? She's around here, right?"

Rachel nodded, and she glanced back inside, before she allowed me into the barn. Inside I found Melissa and a black horse inside, Melissa looked at me in surprise. However she smiled a bit. "Hello… Jordan," she said. "Nice to see you got home safely."

I smiled and nodded. "Hello Melissa," I said, "You alright? After what happened..."

She shook her head "No, I'm fine, I guess," she said. "Neither of my parents were home, so I didn't have to worry about being caught coming home late by them… I doubt either of them would care… Anyways, thanks for driving me home again, and… well… saving our skin..."

"Melissa told us about what you did." Rachel said, looking at me with a smile. "Thank you… for helping her… I owe you _big_ time."

"Don't mention it," I said nodding as I smiled. "After what happened, I doubt you'd want to walk the rest of the way home." Melissa nodded, but I didn't see a bit of red dusting her cheeks. "Anyways, where's Cassie?"

" _Right here,_ " Cassie said, as the horse stepped forward, as I suspected. " _Good to see you again, Jordan._ "

"Yeah, you too." I said. "I see you morphed your first animal."

" _Yeah, its amazing!_ " Cassie exclaimed. " _I never felt so… alive! I feel so powerful in this morph! So fast!_ "

I chuckled a bit before I looked at Melissa and Rachel. "What about you two?" I asked. "You morphed yet?"

"I did," Melissa said nodding. "I morphed my cat this morning… it was… well.. surreal!"

"I haven't yet," Rachel said shrugging. "Haven't found anything _to_ morph into yet." She then glanced at me. "What about you?"

"Well..." I began, scratching the back of my head. "I haven't morphed yet… but I just now acquired the Northern Goshawk Cassie's mom was taking care of."

" _Well, you might as well try it out now._ " Cassie suggested. " _Best to get it over with and out of the way._"

I gulped a bit, before I glanced away. "Well… I would..." I muttered. "But eehh… I can't exactly morph… clothes… so when I morph… back..." It got my message across, and Rachel sighed, Melissa seemed to blush a bit, while Cassie shook her horse head (which again, was kinda weird to watch).

" _Actually, you can,_ " she said. " _But only skintight clothes, I found out earlier today. It's better than nothing though._ "

"I'm… not exactly wearing skintight clothes, Cassie," I said, gesturing to my blue jeans and T-shirt.

"Just man up and morph," Rachel said, shaking her head. "We'll turn our heads away when you morph back."

I sighed, "Well… alright..." I said, gulping once again. This was it, my first Morph. I felt more nervous than I've ever been before. I took a deep breath, and I closed my eyes and focused. At first, nothing happened. But then I felt a strange itching sensation on my arms, opting me to open my eyes and I looked at my arms. It looked like my arms were becoming overcome with tattoos of bird feathers across my body being etched into my skin, believe me when I say it was freaking me out already, but I continued to focus. And then, suddenly the feathers rose to the surface, becoming genuine feathers and I found nearly my entire body was covered in them.

"Whoa..." I muttered, but it wasn't done yet. Then came the shrinking, my body was getting shorter and shorter, but it felt like I was falling on top of a mountain as everything around me started to look a lot bigger. I became so small that my clothes began to fall off me. I then felt my feet beginning to harden, and shift into sharp deadly talons, and I felt my mouth extend a bit, and my lips harden into a curved beak.

Finally about a minute later, the changes were complete, and after I escaped the tangle of what were my clothes… I was a Northern Goshawk.

The first thing I realized was my newfound field of vision. I was expecting to be able to see everything, but man was I able to see! I could see a fly sitting on an empty cage on the other side of the barn! I could hear the mice creeping throughout the barn, I could hear and see everything.

I immediately was hit by the Goshawk's instincts to go and make the closest mice into my next lunch, but I did what I could to fight them off.

"Jordan?" Melissa asked, as she, Rachel and Cassie were looking at me. "You alright?"

" _Yeah… I'm okay,_ " I 'said' though thought-speak. " _Holy shit this is awesome! Man, these hawks can see EVERYTHING!_ "

" _Bird's eyes are better than humans by far,_ " Cassie said. " _Hence the term 'Birds eye view'. Are you feeling the animal instincts?_ "

" _Yeah, but I think I got this,_ " I said, as I raised my wings " _Now, let's see..._ " Thanks to those same Hawk instincts, I flapped my wings, and rose up from the ground, flapping up into the air and landed on a nearby perch, with the increase of air, it was time for me to finally fly. " _See you girls in a minute… I gotta try my new wings!_ " I said, as I raised my wings once again, and flapped them as hard as I could as I leaped up from the perch, and flew out the barn door. I continued to flap, struggling to find a thermal to carry me up into the sky. And then suddenly my hawk body felt a sudden rush of warm air from the ground, as I was suddenly lifted even further into the air! I stopped flapping and allowed my wings to ride out what was most certainly a thermal. The thermal took me straight up into the air, practically a Kilometer up! It felt like I was hovering in place for a moment, and then I let the Hawk instincts tell me what to do, as I adjusted my tail feathers, pointed my head in one direction, and I soared forward.

The feeling, the rush of flying was unlike anything I had felt in my entire life. Never before had I felt so free, never before had I felt so alive! All my life I dreamed of becoming a pilot, to fly planes across the skies and fly like the birds. But now I was flying _as_ a bird, and it was simply amazing!

" _THIS IS FRACKING AWESOME!_ " I declared as I soared up as high as the hawk could take me. I felt as if I kept on going I would reach the clouds themselves! When I got as high into the air as I could, I tilted my tail feathers a bit to the left, and I pointed my nose down and I then entered a steep dive as I fell to the ground. Imaging being on the best roller coaster you have ever been on, only take away the carts and rails, and nothing stopping you from becoming a splat on the ground aside from the wings on your arms. That about sums up what I was doing.

Then, at the last minute, I pulled out of the dive as I flared my wings, and I used the momentum of the dive to allow me to glide a few meters from the treetops " _YEEEHAW!_ " I shouted as I sped forward.

For a while, I just flew. I flew as far as my wings could take me. Eventually however, the reality that I knew I had to Morph out eventually came back to me, and I headed back to Cassie's barn, flying up through the rafters and landing back on the ground, where I noticed Cassie had left, but Rachel and Melissa were still there.

"'Bout time you got back," Rachel said with a smirk. "How was it?"

" _Freaking awesome!_ " I said. " _Just flying in the air, without a care in the world! I LOVE Flying!_ "

Rachel just shook her head, while Melissa giggled a bit. "Alright bird-boy," she said. "Better Morph out, remember the Andalite said two hours and you're stuck."

" _Right,_ " I said nodding. " _Umm… turn around, please?_ "

Rachel and Melissa did as asked as they turned away from me, as I demorphed. It was quick and easy, as I regained my human arms, legs, head and height. Once I was fully human I redressed back into my clothes. "Alright, I'm good," I said, as the two looked back. "Man, that was just crazy! Flying through the air… where did Cassie go?"

"She left to give her horse morph a test run," Melissa answered. "Get a feel for it. also Jake called and the others will be here in about a half hour or so, we need to discuss where we go next."

I nodded. "Sounds good," I said. "I think we all need to come to a final decision on what to do next."

Roughly half an hour passed, and I just really chatted with Rachel and Melissa. It was interesting to get to know Rachel, since she was one of my favorite characters. Though learning a bit more about Melissa interested me as well, since the books only spoke so much about her, her only real appearance was in book 2, and even then K.A Applegate said she intended for her to be a 'throw away character', but so many people were concerned with what happened to her, it actually surprised her.

However, I fully intended to save Rachel just as much as I hoped to save Tobias. Her fate at the final Animorphs Book was one of the biggest things I intend to change, if not one of the most important.

The first to arrive at the barn was Tobias, who arrived a few minutes before Marco, who had a newspaper with him. I already knew what it was about, however he showed it to us regardless (and I still had to maintain my cover for now) which showed the police were after 'The kids launching fireworks at the construction site'.

Eventually, Jake showed up as well, riding his bike. Rachel showed him the newspaper, and his reaction was exactly as I expected.

"But this is a total lie!" Jake said.

"Ding ding ding ding! Correct answer. Johnny, tell out contestant what he's won," Marco said, laced with sarcasm.

"Did you see the last part?" Rachel asked, as Jake read the last part of the newspaper.

"They're looking for _us,_ " I said, beating Marco to the punch."The only reason that would be is that the Yeerks have controllers in both the Media _and_ the Police Force."

"Probably not all of the cops," Tobias pointed out.

"If the police have been infiltrated by the Controllers, who knows how many others have, too?" Rachel asked. "Teachers? People in the Government? The newspapers and T.V.?"

"Math teachers, for sure," Marco joked, causing me to smile just a bit. The others just looked around nervously, like they were expecting to find themselves surrounded by controllers.

Rachel sighed. "I tried to tell myself it was all a dream," she said.

"Been there, tried that, didn't work," Jake said. Once again, for a while, no one said anything as the gravity the situation settled in.

Finally, Marco spoke up. "Look, why do we have to deal with this?" he asked. "I say we just forget about it. We never talk about it. We never _morph,_ we just deal with our own lives."

"And when the Yeerks take over, then what?" I asked, causing the others to look at me, as he looked back at Marco. "Lets say we _do_ forget about this, let's say we forget about the Yeerks, the Andalites, the Morphing… then who's gonna fight the Yeerks if not us?"

"Hell, I don't know!" Marco shouted. "How about the military? There has to be someone who's fighting these things!"

"I doubt the military will be of much help, since if the Yeerks want to take control of our planet, they will want to take control of the military." I retorted.

"Marco, I halfway agree with you-" Jake began to say, and then Marco went ballistic.

"We could get killed!" he shouted. "Don't you guys get it? You saw what happened to the Andalite. I mean, this is radical stuff, Jake. This is for real. Real! We could all get killed!"

Tobias looked at Marco with a sideways look, like he thought maybe Marco was some kind of coward, of course I knew better, and Marco had his reasons which were about to be explained as he shook his head, and spoke in a quiet voice. "Look, I think these controllers are jerks. But if something happens to me… my dad. He wouldn't be able to handle it. You can all think I'm a weasel if you want, I don't care. But if I get killed or something, my dad will flat-out die. He's only hanging in there because of me."

I sighed silently, but I kept my mouth shut for the time being. I looked out into the distance, and noticed a black horse galloping across the green grass. "There's Cassie," Rachel said, as she noticed her approach as well, the others looking in the direction we were looking as Cassie slowed down and trotted closer.

"Me, Cassie, Melissa and Jordan have been here for a while," Rachel explained. "She's really good at this, look at how fast she can do it."

The horse nickered softly, and then began to melt as the big brown eyes became slightly smaller, and the long muzzle became a human mouth and soon formed a much more human head soon after, which looked just like Cassie, who smiled at the others with big horse teeth "Hey kids," she said.

Marco suddenly sat down very hard, his eyes wide in shock as he looked at Cassie, never having seen a human morph yet.

I just continued to watch, as I saw Cassie morph. What they said in the books about her morphing were true, she obviously had full control of her morph as she was morphing out her upper torso first - thankfully with clothes, and for a few seconds she stayed half-horse half-human, looking very much like the Andalite in a way.

Knowing what was coming next, I looked down the road to the barn, and I could see in the distance a car driving towards us. "Oh shit!" I shouted. "Cassie, morph NOW! Car's coming!"

The others looked, and they could see the car coming too, and they could see the car was "Shit, its the cops!" Tobias shouted.

"Which way should I morph?"Cassie wailed, as she reared up slightly on her hind legs. "Human or horse?"

"Human! Human! Human!" Both me and Jake said at the same time, before he said. "Everyone stand in front of her!"

"And act casual!" I added, as we all stood side-by-side acting as a wall hiding Cassie, while acting as calmly as we could as the police car squealed to a stop, sending some gravel flying as a single police officer stepped out. Both me and Jake waved at him."Mornin Officer,"I said.

"Morning," the cop said, looking at us all. "You kids, uh… hiding something?"

I glanced at the others, before I looked at the officer. "Nope," I said. "We're not hiding anything officer."

"Step aside, all of you," the officer ordered, moving his hand. I shrugged, as I moved to the side, as did the others revealing Cassie… who was now 100% human.

The Officer looked a bit puzzled, however he just shrugged. "Can we help you officer?" Rachel asked in her best responsible voice.

"We're making some inquiries," he said, still keeping an eye on Cassie like something could be wrong. "We're looking for some kids who were shooting off fireworks in the construction site across from the mall last night."

"The ones on the Newspaper?" I asked, as Marco suddenly started coughing.

"Yeah, those," the officer said nodding, before he looked at Marco. "Is he alright?"

"Yeah, he's fine," Jake said.

The officer just continued. "We want these kids, " he said. "We want them really bad. See, it was dangerous what they did, could've had someone hurt. So we want to find the kids."

I mentally groaned. This guy was _obviously_ a Controller. I mean sure, if you didn't know about the Yeerks it wouldn't be so obvious, but when you _know_ the Yeerks existed, it was so _painfully_ obvious. "Why is that?" I asked. "I thought fireworks were legal in the state, aren't they?"

"They are..." the Controller said. "But… they fired them off pretty close to the mall, so a stray firework could have hit someone."

"Well, I don't know anything about it," Jake lied. "All we know is from the newspaper."

The officer looked at Jake very close, and I could see he was beginning to sweat. "Hey, you know what?" he asked. "You look familiar… you know a young man named Tom?"

"Yeah, he's my brother," Jake said, as he was still trying to keep his cool. However the officer seemed to smirk a bit. "Tom's your brother, eh?" he asked. "Well, he's a good kid. I know him from the Sharing. I'm one of the adult supervisors. Great group, the Sharing. You should come to a meeting, we have one coming up tonight at the beach actually."

"Yeah, um, Tom invited me already," Jake said, and I nodded as well. "Same here." I said.

"We have a lot of fun."

"Yeah..." Jake repeated.

"Well, you call me if you hear anything about these kids in the construction site."the officer said, "I should warn you - they may come up with some wild story to conceal their guilt. But you're too smart to believe a bunch of crazy lies, aren't you?"

"He's a regular genius," Marco said, and the policeman nodded, got back into his car and then took off.

"Controller." I blurted out, causing the others to look at me. "What? That guy was practically _oozing_ that he was a Controller! He was pressing way too hard about what happened last night!"

Rachel sighed. "Okay, either way, rule number one." she said. "We don't do anything to attract attention. We have to be secret about _everything,_ especially morphing."

Cassie seemed to blush a bit in embarrassment. "Sorry… yeah, it was stupid of me," she said. "Its just… oh man! It was so amazing! Running like that, out in the open space, running and running!"

"How did you morph clothes?" Jake asked. "When me and Tobias did it… well, let's just say its a good thing neither of you girls were around."

"It took some practice," Cassie said. "And it can only be tight clothing. I tried it with a coat and it got shredded. I don't know what we'll do in the winter."

"That's not going to be a problem," Marco said firmly. "Because there isn't going to be anymore morphing."

"Maybe Marco is right," Rachel said, "This is too big for us. We're just kids. We need to find someone important to tell this too, someone we can trust!"

"We can't trust anyone," Tobias said flatly. "Anyone could be a Controller. We tell the wrong person, we are all dead. And the whole world will be doomed."

"I don't want to stop Morphing," Cassie said. "Do you realize all we could do with this power? We could communicate with animals, maybe. Help save endangered species!"

"Humans may be the next endangered species, Cassie," Tobias said quietly.

"What do you say, Jake?" Cassie asked.

"Me?" Jake asked, as he shrugged. "I don't know. Marco's right, we could all get killed. Rachel's right, this is too major for a bunch of kids." he then hesitated. "But… Tobias is right, too. I mean, the whole world is in danger, and we can't trust anyone."

"So what do we _do?_ " Rachel demanded.

"Hey, its not up to me to decide!" Jake said hotly.

"Let's take a vote," Rachel said.

"I vote we try to live long enough to get driver's licenses." Marco said.

"Already got that," I said, pulling out my licence with a smirk. "I'm doing it. I promised Elfangor I would fight, so dammit I will."

"I agree with Jordan," Tobias said nodding. "I vote we do what the Andalite said: fight!"

"You've never been in a fight!" Marco sneered, before pointing at me. "And we've only known him for a barely a day! You can't handle the punks at school, and now suddenly you want to kick butt on that Visser Three Freakazoid?"

"Our names won't be remembered if we die like trampled flowers," I said suddenly, causing the others to look at me oddly. "I refuse to be forgotten, and written off as less than worthless. We can scream and cry but no one will hear us, plead and beg but no one will help us. I am not going to live as cattle to the Yeerks, and I am going to rise and fight the battle!"

I then looked at them all. "The Yeerks are being that will live off our fears, their words will be like knives as they play with the lives of human beings," I said. "They will try to control us as if they own us, are you telling me you will just _let_ them steal our freedom?"

"Not me," I continued, shaking my head. "I will channel this anger that swells inside me, and fight them till I break through. I know that deep in my soul there is no hesitation, so I will make myself the one that the Yeerks will one day all fear! I am going to start a wildfire that the Yeerks can't hope to extinguish, I will use the power the Andalite gave us to rip apart the Yeerks one by one… because as far as I can tell… this is the moment for war."

When I was finished, the others all looked at me stunned for a minute or two, however Tobias was smiling as he nodded.

"I-I agree with Jordan," Melissa said, speaking up for the first time for a while, causing Rachel and Cassie to look at her surprised. "We can't just stand by and let the Yeerks win…if we don't, who will?"

"Yeah, I agree!" Rachel said, nodding. "I'm voting with Tobias and Jordan, I wish we could dump this all on someone else, but we can't."

"L-Let's just think it over for a while," Cassie said with a slight stutter. I guess she was taken aback by my speech I guess. "This is still a big decision, I mean… its not like we're deciding whether to wear jeans or a skirt."

"Yeah, let's wait for a while," Jake said, sounding a bit relieved. "In the meantime, no one say anything to anyone. We just go back to normal life."

I glanced at Marco expecting to see him smirking like he was in the book, but oddly enough he wasn't. He was still looking at me surprised. Tobias was still blushing as he sent a grateful look at Rachel, while Melissa was just looking at the ground a bit.

Soon after, Jake and Marco left, and Tobias sighed as he looked at me "Thanks," he said. "For supporting me with Rachel… that was a great speech you said."

I chuckled a bit sheepishly as I scratched the back of my head "It was nothing, really," I said. "It… just came to me off the top of my head. I just felt like I had to say _something._ "

"It was pretty good," Rachel said with a small smirk. "You got Marco to think twice at least. That counts for something." She then glanced at Melissa. "But Melissa… why do you want to fight? You never struck me as someone who'd jump for a fight."

"I said I couldn't just sit by, and let the Yeerks win," Melissa said firmly. "And I won't let you and the others fight alone! Y-You're my friend Rachel, I… I know we haven't been hanging out a lot recently… but…"

Rachel looked at Melissa with a surprised look, before she smiled and gave her a sisterly hug which surprised Melissa. "Thanks Melissa," she said. "I'm glad you're with me on this. And its alright, besides I have a feeling we'll be spending a lot more time together now."

I myself smiled a bit, as I was glad that Melissa and Rachel were beginning to repair their friendship. "Well," I said as I looked at Cassies barn. "While we're here… might as well see what we can acquire morph-wise..."

* * *

"So, you're _sure_ this is safe to morph a bird?" Tobias asked, a bit nervously as he stood in the middle of the Barn with me and the others. A few minutes had passed, and making good with my promise I helped Cassie out in the barn, taking care of the animals. Cassie was grateful for the help, and I learned quite a bit about the animals at the Clinic. We also spent some time acquiring all of the different animals she had in the Barn, which I was very eager to do. So far I had acquired a lot of animals to Morph. Cassie asked why I was so eager to acquire as many animals as I could, and I just answered 'It's best to have them and not need them, rather than need them and not have them'.

So far, I had acquired the DNA from a mouse, a horse, a raccoon, a bobcat missing an eye, a Great Horned Owl, and of course what I considered the 'icing on the cake', a Grey Wolf. I had also taken a quick Goshawk flight back to my place where I finally picked out my 'Morphing Suit', which was really just a tight-fitting pair of shorts and a T-Shirt. And I wasn't the only one, as Tobias had just finished acquiring a red-tailed hawk with a broken wing. "Trust me Tobias, you are going to _love_ flying," I said grinning standing next to Cassie. "If you thought being Dude was awesome, a bird-of-prey will be a rollercoaster."

Tobias nodded a bit nervously before he sighed, and he allowed himself to begin his first morph into a hawk. As he began morphing, Cassie glanced at me. "So why do you think the Sharing is involved with the Yeerks?" she asked. A few minutes ago I brought up the topic of the Sharing, and how I thought (or rather knew) they were involved with the Yeerks.

I shrugged. "It's just a hunch I have," I said. "That cop was going on a bit too much 'bout joining the Sharing, saying things like 'we should go' and 'it's lots of fun'... Now that I think about it, Jake's brother Tom suggested I should go as well..."

"So, you think Tom is a Controller now?" Rachel asked, giving me a raised eyebrow as I just raised my hands in surrender.

"Hey, I am just suggesting it," I said. "I am running on the assumption that everyone is a Controller until proven innocent. There's just something in my gut saying there's something about the Sharing that rubs me the wrong way aside from them being a cheap Boy Scouts rip-off. Not to mention I've read a lot of mystery novels and watched a lot of shows, I've learned how to deduce these kinds of situations."

"You're just paranoid," Rachel said shaking her head. However Melissa seemed a bit hesitant to agree, which Cassie caught.

"Something on your mind, Melissa?" she asked.

"No… well.." Melissa said before she sighed. "Well… my parents… both go to Sharing meetings a lot," she said. "More than usual actually… they're always trying to convince me to join, like at least once a week they try to bring me along, but I usually don't go with them."

"Why's that?" I asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"I just… don't want to," Melissa said, shrugging. "It just… didn't seem like something I should go to."

I knew there was probably more to that story involving her… tensions with her Controller-parents, however I just nodded, knowing that I couldn't say anything about that yet. "Its not much," I said. "But it may still be worth checking out… I just want to give the Sharing a look-see and see if they are up to anything Yeerk-related, if not, then their okay in my books." I then looked at Tobias, and smiled as I saw he was in full hawk morph. "Well, Tobias… what do you think?"

" _Just… whoa..._ " Tobias said once again in thought-speak. " _You weren't kidding… Hawks can see and hear everything! So… what now?_ "

I glanced at Cassie, who nodded before I began to morph back into my Goshawk " _Now,_ " I said, once I finished morphing. " _We fly!_ "

* * *

" _YEEEAAAHOOOO!_ " Tobias shouted as he plunged his red-tailed hawk morph into another nose-dive towards the ground, and I followed closely after as a Goshawk. " _THIS IS AWESOME!_ "

" _I know!_ " I shouted as we pulled up at the last second just as before," _This is why I wanted to join the Air Force! Flying is AWESOME!_ "

Me and Tobias were spending our time soaring across the skies above the trees, just as I had before. I was smiling mentally as I saw Tobias enjoy flying for the first time of his life. We had been flying for about a half hour now, and we were just beginning to leave the forest, and enter the area where Jake's house was.

" _This will NEVER get old, I swear!_ " Tobias shouted, as he did a barrel-roll. " _I've never felt so alive!_ " We continued to fly over the suburban buildings below us, until Tobias spotted one he recognized " _Hey, I think that's Jake's house,_ " he said

" _Yeah,_ " I said, as I flew on Tobias's left flank. " _You wanna see what he's doing?_ "

" _Sure,_ " he said, as we dove dove down and headed towards the house. However as we got closer to the window of Jake's room, we heard a bunch of loud noises coming from inside, sounding like someone was having a fight. ' _Oh boy,_ ' I thought. ' _Marco found out Tom's a Controller._ ' Thanks to my Goshawk hearing, me and Tobias could hear what was going on inside.

"Jake, quit acting like a stupid jerk!"

"Take that back!"

"Not likely, you think it's just a coincidence he's suddenly all interested in what happened at the construction site?"

" _What the hell is going on in there?_ " Tobias asked.

" _Sounds like Jake and Marco are having an argument…_ " I said. " _I doubt its about who won their last game… We should see what's going on, not to mention we should tell Jake what Elfangor told us last night about the Yeerks. Red-Tails first!_ "

Tobias chucked a bit. " _With pleasure,_ " he said. " _Let me show you how its done._ " He then moved into a dive, before he folded back his wings in a free-fall letting gravity bring him in for a landing. He opened his wings wide to slow his descent, and started flapping against the window with his left wing to try and get their attention.

' _Wow… he's good._ ' I thought, blinking at how expertly Tobias pulled that off in his first time in bird Morph, before I followed him, mimicking his movements as well as I could as I did the same as him.

" _Let us in, alright? We can't hover here forever!_ " Tobias shouted.

" _Yeah, we ain't hummingbirds!_ " I added.

Thankfully, Jake soon opened the window and we flew in, as Tobias landed on the dresser while I landed on the bed. " _What on earth are you two fighting about?_ " Tobias demanded. " _Oh, and what do you think of my new Red-Tailed Hawk Morph?_ "

"Is that you Tobias? Jordan?" Marco demanded. "I thought we weren't going to do any more of this morphing."

" _I never agreed to that,_ " Tobias said.

" _And neither did I,_ " I said as well, mentally smirking. " _And I believe we agreed not to agree yet._ "

"Well, morph back you two," Jake said. "You know what the Andalite said: never stay in morph for more than two hours."

" _We know, we know,_ " I said as I began to morph back. " _We still have loads of time left._ " I noticed Tobias hesitated for a moment, before he began to demorph as well. My first assumption was that he had yet to figure out how to morph clothes yet, but then again there was the equally as likely chance he enjoyed being a hawk so much.

I know this may sound crazy, but I always believed that maybe - just maybe - Tobias _wanted_ to become a hawk. What I mean is that I think Tobias wanted to become a _nothlit_ from the beginning. I mean, think about it: He has no parents which he knows about, neither of his aunt or uncle care about him, and he barely had any friends to speak of.

As a human, he didn't have much going for him. But… I hoped that maybe, just maybe I could change that. I wanted to be Tobias's friend, just like I wanted to be friends with the others as well. But I still thought of all of the good he did as a hawk, which caused me to hesitate on the idea of keeping him human.

However, I pushed those thoughts away as me and Tobias finished morphing, and Jake loaned Tobias some clothes as he had yet to master morphing clothes yet.

"How did you two get those hawk morphs?" Jake demanded.

"Cassie's barn," Tobias answered. "There was an injured hawk there, as well as this cool osprey, but I picked the hawk."

"Similar story," I said. "Cassie's mom was handling a Northern Goshawk that got injured and she let me hold it, so I decided to acquire it while I had the chance. Its a good thing injuries like broken wings aren't written in the DNA acquired in morphing."

"Yeah," Tobias said sighing. "He's so depressed..."

"Who?" Jake asked.

"The hawk," Tobias said. " I mean, I think he knows they're aren't trying to hurt him or anything, but he can't stand being cooped up there while his wing heals." His eyes darkened. "It's terrible when birds have to be locked up in cages, they should be free."

"Yeah, free the birds," Marco commented sarcastically. "I'll get the bumper stickers printed up."

"Marco, you would _not_ have that attitude if you morphed a bird," I said smirking, and Tobias smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, being a cat was cool and all, but a hawk! Its just total absolute freedom!" he said.

"No more than two hours in morph, right?" Jake repeated the warning. "You keep track of time, right?"

I chuckled a bit and Tobias smiled. "We do," I said. "With hawk eyes, we can see someone's wrist watch while half a mile in the air."

"It's like being Superman," Tobias added. "Being able to fly, and have super-vision!"

"Now they're Supermen. Great." Marco muttered.

"We were just flying around, really," Tobias said. "But I was keeping an eye out for anything that could be a Yeerk Pool."

"Yeerk Pool?" Jake asked, raising an eyebrow. "What's that? Didn't that Visser Three guy say something about that?"

"Yeah, me and Tobias stayed with Elfangor for a few moments longer when you guys ducked for cover," I said. "He sent us… info you could say, on the Yeerks, things we can use against them. The Yeerks have an Achilles heel. It turns out that Yeerks feed on these rays called Kandrona Rays. On the Yeerk Homeworld Kandrona is their sun, which supplies special rays of energy which feeds the Yeerks in their natural state. However if a Yeerk does not get rejuvenated by Kandrona Rays once every three days, they die. The Kandrona Rays themselves are generated from some artificial generator the Yeerks have somewhere on-planet, but the Yeerks themselves need to bathe in a place called a Yeerk Pool."

Marco raised a hand to silence me and Tobias. "Hang on, let me check the door," he said as he went to the door to Jake's room and peeked out into the hallway. "All clear."

Tobias gave Marco a questioning look, and he answered the unasked question. "Tom," he said. "He's one of them."

"Don't make me hurt you!" Jake warned him angrily. "Tom is not a Controller."

I sighed. "So _that's_ what you were arguing about," I said sighing. "You may be right Jake, but we still need to anticipate the possibility that _anyone_ other than us could be controllers for now, not until we can devise a plan to track down who and who's not a Controller, that includes your brother."

"Whatever," Marco said. "But what does the Yeerk Pool gotta do with you two flying around and spying like your Superman?"

"Well, it seems dumb now, but I was thinking maybe we could spot the Yeerk Pool from above," Tobias said, as he made a rueful smile. "Saw a lot of swimming pools and some ponds. You get up there and you realize there are ponds and lakes and streams everywhere. But I didn't see anything special."

"And what if you found some Yeerk Pool?" Marco demanded. "Then what?"

"One step at a time," I said before Tobias could speak. "First we find the Yeerk Pool, and then we decide where to go from there. I doubt we can just blow it up since we don't have anything we could use _to_ blow it up, but once we identify the Yeerk Pool's location, we can begin mapping out Yeerk Pool entrances. I doubt the Yeerks would have just one way in or out of the pool, if they have more entrances then more Controllers can access them at a variety of locations. We map these locations, we can start identifying who are Controllers, and who's not."

"Didn't we decide _not_ to get into this?" Marco said.

"Actually, we decided _not_ to decide yet," Jake pointed out.

"Well, me and Jordan have decided," Tobias said nodding firmly. "We're fighting, with or without you."

"Suddenly the wimp is a hero," Marco sneered.

"Maybe I just found something worth fighting for Marco," Tobias said.

"You didn't even fight for yourself!" he exclaimed.

"That was before," Tobias said softly. "Before Elfangor, before he died to save us, and gave us the power to morph. I can't let that go. I can't let him die for nothing. So whatever you guys decide, I am going to fight."

"And we're going to do it, with or without you," I added nodding. "When we find the Yeerk Pool, we're gonna make the Yeerks regret ever coming to earth in the first place, and show them we mean business."

Marco and Jake were both silent for about a minute, before Marco began to smile a bit sneakily. He knew Jake was going on with this thanks to me and Tobias, despite what other people may say about him, Marco can be very smart when he wants to. "Remember that cop today, the one who is so interested in finding whoever was at the construction site? The cop who is probably a Controller?"

We all nodded. "Yeah, what about him?" Jake asked.

"Well, let's see," Marco began as he leaned back in his seat. "He invites you to join the Sharing, and now along comes Tom. And suddenly _he_ is very interested in what happened at the construction site, and guess what? Tom also invites you to join the Sharing."

"Asked me too," I said nodding, glancing at Tobias who nodded as well. "I spoke with Rachel and Cassie about it back at the Barn. The cop seemed pretty… _suggestive_ that we join the Sharing. I think the Sharing may be a front for Controllers, they probably use it to recruit humans and eventually infect them with a Yeerk."

"We're pretty sure the cop is a controller," Marco said. "And I don't care what you say, Jake, I think Tom is too. So, here is the deal. You want to get into this fight against the Yeerks? Fine,. Let's see how much you want to do it when it turns out it's your own brother you have to destroy."

"We don't have to kill Tom, Marco," I said, rolling my eyes. "Just the Yeerk in his head. We find a way to free him from the Yeerk, Tom will no longer be a problem."

"Easier said than done!" Marco shot back. "This isn't some video game, is it? This is reality. Jake, you have no idea what reality is. Nothing bad has ever happened to you. You have the perfect family, like I _used_ to have." His voice cracked a bit at the memory of his mother before he continued. "So maybe we just walk away from this, let someone else fight this fight. Sorry about the Andalite, but I've got enough death in my family."

"There will be a lot more death if we let the Yeerks win," I said, once again surprising the others. "Do you think the Yeerks will always be this 'passive'? Eventually they _will_ move in for the kill and turn every human they can into Controllers, and whatever ones resist will be likely killed. Is that the fate you want your friends and family to suffer? Being killed or worse, spending the rest of their lives as slaves to the Yeerks? The Andalite said the Yeerks don't have the ability to morph aside from Visser Three. We have a distinct advantage over the Yeerks, a power they do not have! We may start off small… but over time… we can grow, and become a formidable force against the Yeerks."

"He's right," Jake said nodding. "The Andalite gave us the morphing power for a reason and it wasn't just for the fun of turning into a dog, horse or bird. He hoped we would fight."

"Then maybe Tom is the enemy!" Marco exclaimed. "Maybe it's your own brother you'll end up killing and not just the Yeerk!"

"Yes," Jake said grimly. "Maybe that's what will happen, maybe not. But the first step is to find out more. And I think maybe the way to do that is to check out this Sharing meeting tonight. I'll call the others, anyone wants to come, cool. You want to stay out of it Marco, that's cool too."

Marco hesitated, before he shot me and Tobias an angry look but I shrugged it off. He sighed and spoke. "Okay, it's just a meeting, right?" he asked. "We go and see, I'm in for that."

"Sounds good," I said nodding. "This is just Recon, we're not looking for a fight, we go in, see what's what, and get out."

 **117Jorn: And there you have it! Chapter 3 is done and posted! Hope ya'll enjoyed it as much as I did writing it! Next chapter is our 'Recon' at the Sharing Meeting, and a few things happen there that may pirk your interests! So until next time… JA NE!**


	4. Chapter 4

Say what you will about the Sharing, it doesn't change the fact that A. They are probably all controllers, and B. They are just a shameless rip-off of the Boy Scouts.

Jake had called the others, and we made our way to the Sharing Meeting at the beach that night. The bonfire was burning bright on the shores of the dark beach, as people young and old from kids to adults were playing, talking and eating. To the common eye the Sharing might of been a pretty fun gig… that is if I didn't know it was run by Controllers before hand.

The others were spread out across the beach, some of them having fun others just looking around and the whatnot. ' _No wonder why the Sharing is so popular,_ ' I thought. I began to drift away from the majority of the group, as I found myself along the edges of where the beach was. I found myself sitting down on the soft sand and just looking out at the ocean, the moon was over the water illuminating it with it's light, looking like something from a pretty picture.

I glanced out into the ocean, and I wondered how Ax was doing. I could only hope that he was alright, trapped in the Dome under an alien ocean with nothing but fish and sharks to keep him company. He must have been getting lonely down there, that's for sure.

' _Hang in there Ax-man,_ ' I thought, ' _We'll be there soon, just hang in there._ '

"Hey," I glanced up for a moment and saw Melissa approach… I gulped slightly as I saw what she had decided to wear for the party, that being a one-piece dark blue bathing suit which was very… _generous_ of her form. "How you doing?"

"OhI uh… fine." I said, averting my gaze back towards the ocean. "Just… thinking is all… "

Melissa sat next to me on the beach… fuck my heart was going a mile a minute, just sitting with a girl… don't judge me! I'd like to see one of you idiots try and hold a conversation with someone who looks like Terra Vnesa!

I mean… umm… as we sat there, we were silent for what felt like a solid minute before Melissa finall spoke up. "I… know I've said this at least twice before..." she began, "But… thank you…"

"Just doing what a person in my position _should_ do." I said, trying to remain calm. "I wasn't just going to abandon you guys..."

"I know… its not just that though." She said, grabbing my attention. "All the things you've been saying since you've been with us… I think it's really helped all of us in a way…"

I simply shrugged "I just… say what I think is right." I stated. "You know… keep morale up?"

Melissa smiled slightly "Well, you do a good job at it." She said, "You'd make a good leader..."

"Maybe… though for now I prefer to stay as Jake's Number One." I said with a chuckle.

"Like… Riker?"

I paused. I looked at Melissa, stunned. "...wha?"

"Oh! Um… i-its nothing," She said, shaking her head embarrassed. "Its… its uh… just from a..."

"Star Trek: The Next Generation?"

Now it was her time to pause as she looked at me in surprise "Wait… you know?"

"Yeah! I mean… its one of m favorite shows alongside the Original series," I said, chuckling a bit. "Though I am more of a Wars fan though, but Trek holds a special place in my heart… I… didn't take you for someone who'd know Trek though..."

Melissa scratched her head sheepishly. "Its ahhh… not something I talk too much about..." she muttered, "I mean… most girls in school kinda look down on Science Fiction and Fantasy stuff like Rachel… don't get me wrong, I like the things we do together and all… just I know I couldn't really hold much of a conversation with her if I bring up something like Star Trek… "

I laughed a bit "Oh preaching to the choir, Melissa." I said, "I could never talk to _anyone_ , I'm a hardcore bonafide nerd, geek, otaku whatever you wanna call it. Its hard finding people who are as passionate about those kinds of shows as I am."

"How hardcore?"

"I have the sizes and weapons to ships memorized like they were biblical, and I could recite Lord of the Rings as if it were second-nature."

Melissa let out a low whistle "That good..." she muttered. "I always loved Lord of the Rings… and the Hobbit… I kinda wished they'd make movies about them..."

I tried hard not to laugh at that ' _Oh, now I can't WAIT to show you my collection..._ ' I thought to myself, as I simply nodded "Yeah… if done right, it'd be pretty damn cool..."

"True..."

For a few moments we just sat there silently. I wasn't sure if I was sweating because of the heat or from how nervous I was. ' _Well… what do I say now?_ ' I thought. ' _I mean… she doesn't want to talk about Sci Fi and Fantasy all the time, right?_ '

Thankfully, I didn't need to make the choice "So… where _are_ you from exactly?" She asked. "I mean… I heard you're new around here..."

"East Coast, actually." I said, glad to move the subject to something else. "Graduated High School, and moved into a place my family owned over here… living on my own actually."

"All on your own?" Melissa asked, surprised.

"Pretty much," I confirmed, nodding. "Its actually nice… just raw solitude… plus I got a nice inheritance from my family, so I'm set when it comes to paying any bills for a while... " I chuckled a bit "Here I was thinking about how to go on with my life… looks like..." I glanced around for a moment, making sure we weren't in earshot of anyone "...looks like I should've considered 'Alien Hunting' a valid job opportunity after all."

Melissa giggled slightly… wow her giggle was cute… ' _No! No… focus, focus..._ ' I mentally reprimanded myself. ' _None of that!_ '

"Yeah… maybe..." She mused, as she looked out towards the water, before she looked up towards the sky. "You know… I always kinda hoped we'd meet aliens sometime… I thought they'd be like Vulcans, or ET… " She then sighed "But… I didn't think it would be… like _this_..."

"I don't think anyone could've predicted this," I said, sighing. "Those… things… are just evil, doing what they do… but, on the bright side..." I smiled "We know not all aliens are bad… just look at Elfangor… "

Melissa gulped a bit "Yeah..." she mused, glancing down. I noticed she seemed to shiver a bit. "What… what happened to him...it… it was so _wrong_..."

"A monstrous thing, done by an equally horrid monster." I commented, with a nodd. "That… _thing_ … he'll get what's coming to him, someday… "

"I hope so..." she said, nodding as well, before glancing back at me, smiling again. "Again… thanks for being with us, Jordan… I think we're gonna need all the help we can get."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," I said, returning the smile, with an odd feeling in my stomach, but I did my best to brush it off. I glanced back at where Jake and the others were, and I could see Jake giving us a meaningful glance meaning he need us to be with him and the others. "It's time." I stated, and Melissa nodded as we stood up, and walked towards where Jake and the others had gathered.

"They're all going off to a separate meeting," Jake said, once we regrouped. "All the _full_ members. I'd sure like to know what goes on in that meeting."

"I saw people heading that way." Rachel added.

"Let's see if we can get close." Jake said.

"What's going on?" Marco groaned, "I thought we just decided everything was normal here…."

"Its anything _but_ Normal, Marco." I stated, adding my own two-cents. "Something is _very_ wrong here."

"What are you talking about?" Marco asked, gesturing around them. "Everything is normal here!"

"Too normal," Cassie said. "Nothing is normal. Can't you feel it?" She shivered a bit. "All of the full members… they're just being so perfectly nice, so perfectly helpful. They're so perfectly normal it's abnormal. All of the time their eyes are following you, watching you. Watching you like… like a hungry dog watching a bone."

"Creepy," Rachel agreed. "Like if you took cheerleaders, combined them with gym teachers, and made them all drink ten cups of coffee."

Marco paused for a moment before he spoke again. "You have a point," he admitted. "They're all just too happy, aren't they? People keep telling me how all of their problems disappeared once they become full Sharing members. It's like a cult or something."

"And if there is one thing I learned, is to _not_ trust cults." I said. "When things are just too nice and PG to be true, there's probably a darker side being hidden from public eye, like Scientology or something."

"Either way, I'm getting into that secret meeting of Full Members," Jake said. "Let's get away from the fire, over behind that lifeguard stand."'

"How are you going to get into the meeting?" Marco asked with a raised eyebrow.

Jake smiled a bit. "They won't worry about some stray dog walking along the beach, would they?" he asked, and Marco had an 'ah' look on him.

"Good thinking," Cassie said. "I'd do it too… but all I have is my horse morph, and I'd think they'd notice a Horse."

"I got a Seagull Morph, courtesy of the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center," I said, sending a smile to Cassie. "I'll go in with Jake, make sure nothing bad happens." I was doing this mostly to make sure Cassie doesn't get involved. In the book she was spotted by the Controller Cop, and was listed to be infected by Yeerks. I hoped that if she knew I was keeping an eye on Jake she wouldn't go.

I hoped.

Jake waved his hand over his head once we were behind the cover of the Lifeguard stand, and Tobias landed over us. After getting the location of the meeting, Jake told Tobias to morph out.

" _No, I'll keep watch from above you for a while longer,_ " Tobias said.

"I got that covered Tobias," I said. "I'll morph seagull, and while it may not be as good as a hawk they don't need to ride on thermals, plus it would look more natural than seeing a hawk around here. And if you don't have any morphing clothes, Marco has some clothes for you in a bag. Cassie, Rachel and Melissa will turn away."

Cassie chuckled a bit with a grin. "I'm gonna have to teach you boys how to morph clothes, won't I?" she asked teasingly.

"I already mastered it," I said back smirking. "Though I am gonna find a way to Morph normal clothes eventually… it has to be possible."

Tobias still seemed to hesitate, however Rachel convinced him to morph back thankfully while I myself began morphing seagull. However I was getting a bit more worried about Tobias as well, he was becoming more and more reluctant morphing back from hawk, that theory I had about him _wanting_ to become a _nothlit_ was getting more and more possible, and I knew I had to do something to make sure he wasn't stuck in that bird morph for the rest of his life until book 13.

Either way, I had to put those thoughts aside as I morphed into a seagull, specifically the California seagull. The morph itself was fairly similar to how I morphed into a Goshawk, the first thing I began to experience was the shrinking, as I suddenly began getting smaller and smaller, once again getting the feeling that I wasn't shrinking, but rather falling at a great distance.

The next thing to happen was the feathers, I felt the familiar itching sensation as I looked down, and saw the pattern of feathers appearing across my skin, looking like an array of feather tattoos across my body, and then suddenly the feathers burst from my skin, becoming three-dimensional.

"Okay, that was freaky..." Marco muttered.

"You have nooooaahhh," I began to say, but then my mouth began to elongate and harden, forming a bird-like beak. My feet were the next to shift, however unlike the talons of a Goshawk, they became more webbed and large, fit for walking on sandy surfaces like the beach.

After a few more changes, I had become full seagull. Thankfully, the instincts of the seagull were easy enough to master… but I suddenly got the massive craving to eat any hotdogs I found on the ground.

" _Alright,_ " I said, as I looked at Jake who just finished morphing into Homer. " _Let's go Jake, I've got the skies covered._ "

" _Right,_ " Jake said, nodding his dog head. " _Let's see what the Sharing's dark little secret is._ "

* * *

I flew over the meeting site, keeping a keen eye on Jake as he walked through the high dunes all around. I could see twenty five people standing around a table that had been set up, I could easily see Tom and the policeman were already there.

I watched as Jake made his way towards the site, encountering a guard. However luckily the guard simply passed him off as a stray dog as planned, just like he did in the book. When I saw Jake was close enough to hear what was going on, I flew a bit lower so I could hear what they were saying more clearly. It was right as I flew lower that the final person arrived, Hedrick Chapman. My eyes narrowed slightly at seeing him. I didn't particularly hate Chapman, but I _did_ hate the Yeerk in his head. He was the reason Melissa was having so much trouble with her family, he and his fellow Yeerk who infested Melissa's mother. I had plans to free both of her parents from their Yeerk captors… eventually.

"Everyone quiet. We have problems," Chapman said. "Item one. We still have not found the brats who were at the construction site. I want them found, Visser Three wants them found. Does anyone have any clues?"

For a few moments no one spoke, and then Tom stepped forward. "It could have been anyone," he said. "But it _might_ be the one who is my host's brother, Jake. I know he goes through the construction site sometimes. That's why I brought him here tonight. So we could either make him ours… or kill him."

I looked at Jake, and I could visibly see his dog form recoil from hearing Tom say that. I felt a bit sorry about him. However I had to pay attention to everything they said at the meeting. After Tom spoke, another Controller who looked like a young woman spoke next.

"Temrash, we cannot infest your host's brother so quickly, you know that," she said. "Nor can we kill him. I doubt your host's parents would take to kindly to that, and if he were killed near one of our Sharing events, it would bring unwanted attention to the Sharing that we don't need."

Temrash sneered at the woman controller. "Visser Three wants those kids caught, Deriss!" he said. "Heads will roll if he does not get results!"

"It's doubtful that whoever were present at the construction site would speak out anyways," Deriss countered, with a confident smirk. "They saw first-hand what we are capable of, and likely saw the power Visser Three possessed… I doubt they would speak out in fear of facing him."

"You may be right, Deriss," Chapman said. "However regardless Visser Three is getting impatient… we have to do something or else it will not bode well with us."

"Just find some random kids and have them infected," Deriss said, waving it off. "Tell the Visser they were the ones at the sight, and he would be none the wiser."

" _Lie_ to Visser Three?" Temrash asked incredulously. "Do you have a death wish Deriss?"

"It's been done before, Temrash," another voice, coming from another woman in the group - looking about my age with short brown hair and matching brown eyes. "Visser Three only cares about results, so we just need to give them to him."

"Either way, Deriss is correct," Chapman said. "There will be no killing or infestation _at_ Sharing meetings, we cannot get the authorities suspicious of our activities, only a small fraction of the local police force is under our control. And we cannot simply kill any random kid, we must be sure that they were there… or at the very least, were close by at the time."

Out of the corner of my eye however, I saw someone else approach the meeting area. Cassie!

" _Cassie, what the hell are you doing?_ " I said through thought-speak directed at her, causing Cassie to jump. " _You're going to get spotted, get back!_ " Cassie looked like she was about to argue. " _Now, Cassie,_ " I said. " _Me and Jake are fine, they can't see us. But there are guards all over the area, if you get spotted they may go after you._ "

Cassie looked reluctant, but she conceded as she turned and left the Dunes. ' _Well,_ ' I thought, as I diverted my attention to the meeting again ' _That's one problem taken care of..._ ' I returned my focus on the meeting, knowing how Jake was likely feeling right now, I made sure to make note of everything that they were saying. Most of the discussion revolved largely about their plan to tracked down 'the brats', though it eventually ended up into a plan to just appease Visser Three by grabbing some random humans and simply claiming they were the ones, and have them killed or infested. The only real thing to note was that Tom would be heading back to the Yeerk Pool on Monday to refeed.

Eventually the meeting was slowly dismissed, and Jake began falling back to regroup with the others. We both morphed back to our humans selves - Jake getting redressed before our own meeting began. Jake was the first to speak "Marco, you were right..." he said, somberly. "Tom's a Controller."

Marco didn't look pleased that he was right. I looked at Melissa, and sighed "That's… not all." he said, gulping. "Melissa… your… dad was there too..." Melissa gasped at that, as did the others.

"Wait a minute, Chapman is one of them too?!" Rachel hissed. "Mr. Chapman the Assistant Principal?"

"He seems to be the ringleader… or at least one of them, alongside Tom." I informed.

Jake nodded "He's right..." he said, "It was him the other night at the construction sight… he was the one who told the Hork-Bajir to 'save the heads'."

"That is so Chapman..." Marco muttered, However Rachel slapped him in the back of the shoulder. "Ow! What was-...oh..."

I looked at Melissa, whose hands were covering her mouth, still in shock. "N-No..." she muttered. "That… that can't…"

"Melissa..." Rachel began to try and console her friend, wrapping an arm around her.

"If… if he's one… m-my mom..." Melissa gulped. "Oh god… t-they… they could both be I-infected! I… I… "

"I suggest we get the hell out of here." Tobias said, warily.

"Relax," I said, shaking my head. "They aren't here to kill anyone, they specifically said they don't want any deaths associated with the Sharing - plus they have no way to confirm who was at the Construction Site. They're operating off of hunches. Their plan is to wait for kids to start talking about seeing aliens, assuming they can't keep their traps shut about them."

"Except we're not going to talk about what we saw." Rachel nodded, as she continued to hug her friend who was slowly breaking down… a sight which was really wrenching at my heart to be honest.

"You got that right," Marco agreed, shaking his head. "We aren't saying anything..." I waited for Marco to start going on a rant about how they would be staying out of the whole thing… but he didn't.

' _...what the…?_ '

"...and?" Cassie asked, noting that Marco seemed to stop in the middle of his sentence, as the usual joker of the group seemed to be silently contemplating.

"...I don't know!" He exclaimed, waving his hands. "I want to ignore this all! I want to go back to the way things were, to normal lives! But… but… " He cursed. "Dammit… Jordan was right... " he glanced up at me. "This… we can't fucking avoid this… Chapman's one of them, Tom's one of them, policemen… when does it fucking stop?"

"...it stops when we free every human from the Yeerks grasp." I stated, drawing the others attention. "This… this is why we need to do this...these fucking aliens are trying to divide our families, our friends and loved ones… turn them into these hosts, these _slaves_ for their own bidding." I glanced at Jake. "It will stop when we've freed Tom." Then I looked at Melissa, who was finally looking up at me as I began speaking. "It will stop when we freed your father… it won't stop until we _make_ it stop, until we're either free, or dead… preferably free."

" _Definitely_ better than dead." Marco agreed, nodding. However the sound of voices reached them, as the Sharing meeting was coming to a close.

"Everyone quiet." Jake hushed. "We'll let this ride… for now."

We all nodded, as we began going our separate ways - Rachel sticking with Melissa. I overheard her asking Rachel if she could spend a night over at her place, since its a weekend. Rachel was more than happy to oblige - she knew Melissa needed some time away from home after this bombshell was dropped.

"Hell of a day, huh?" Tobias asked me as we left the Beach.

"Yeah..." I said, sighing. "Lot of new info today… "

"So… what do we do?"

"For now… we do what Jake said," I stated, as I walked towards my truck. "We stay low for a bit… he said he was going to do some scouting for Chapman, so once he's done then we'll get a better idea on how to proceed from there. Once he does… well, he'll call a meeting together, and we can discuss our next move."

Tobias nodded at the logic "Right… you know, you'd make one hell of a leader yourself, Jodan." He said with a smirk.

"Bah, I prefer being the 2IC of this little outfit." I said with a chuckle, hopping into my truck. "Adios, Tobias - see you later."

"Later man."

* * *

It's been a day since that day. As planned, Jake said he was going to investigate Chapman, follow him and see if they could find a Yeerk pool that way. He said he and Cassie had developed an idea last night for him to morph into a lizard to get inside the school to follow him, and he would give it a shot Monday.

Speaking of Chapman, Melissa was still rather… shaken by the news, and it was pretty obvious she had deduced that her mother was one as well - as I found out while I was at the mall today just looking for some stuff to buy for my house, I ran into her. I was at the Mall Food court, sitting by myself, munching on some cheese pizza I got. ' _My god how I love Pizza..._ ' I thought smiling a bit. ' _You always take my troubles away..._ '

"Jordan?" a voice said, and I looked to the source, and I was surprised to see Melissa walking towards me.

I smiled. "Hey Melissa," I said nodding. "Whatcha doing here?"

Melissa was quiet for a moment before she sighed. "I just… needed to get away from my house… again," she muttered. "I… don't like being there anymore..."

I blinked a bit in surprise, however I gestured her to sit down in the seat across from me, which she accepted as she sat down. "Something happened?" I asked.

Melissa seemed to hesitate a bit, before she glanced around. There wasn't anyone around where we were sitting that were within earshot. She let out a sigh before she spoke. "I… I… got in a… a fight with my… parents today..." she whispered.

My eyes widened a bit. "What happened?" I asked, a bit worried.

"It… it was about the Sharing..." she began. "After…after we left last night… from the meeting… today my parents… they wanted me to officially join the Sharing..." She shook her head. "I told them I didn't want to join… but they kept on pushing and pushing, saying it would let me get out and find more friends… but I kept saying no…"

I remained quiet as I nodded, not saying a word until her story was finished. "They started shouting… they… they never shouted at me like that before," she said. "Asking why I didn't want to join, and I just told them I… I just didn't want to, I didn't like the Sharing. They said they were in the Sharing, that some of my friends were already in the Sharing, so I shouldn't I? But I… I just said no, again. Then I said..." She stopped for a moment, before she sighed. "I… shouted… 'what do you care, you and mom don't love me anymore anyways'... and I just… ran off… and well… here I am."

I let out a small sigh, but I said nothing - I may not be the best at 'reading' people, but I could tell Melissa still had some peace to say.

She was silent for a moment longer. "You… you know that song… 'a house is not a home'? by Dionne Warwick?" She asked. "That's… that's what I've been feeling like lately… only it's been with my parents, not with some boyfriend or something like that. They've both always been busy but they've made a point to make time for me… but, even before the Construction Site… that wasn't the case. They've acted the same they always do… but that's it… an act. It was like all of their 'I love yous' and 'Be carefuls' lost all of their meaning. It… it happened so gradually, I didn't notice it started until one day… I woke up, and realized my parent's didn't love me anymore. I tried to deny it at first, but though my parents said they did, they proved otherwise with every word an action… "

My eyes widened quite a bit at what Melissa was saying. "Melissa… of course your parents still love you!" I said. "It's those… _things_ in their heads!"

"Then _why_ did they become controllers to begin with?" Melissa began, looking up at me as I saw tears beginning to well up in her eyes. " _Why_ did they just leave me like… like this! It's not just my dad, but mom has to be one too! Why would they let this stuff happen to them? To me?"

"They're doing it _for_ you!" I blurted out suddenly, causing Melissa to blink in surprise, as she jumped a bit. I was fortunate no one else seemed to notice. I sighed. "Melissa… if your mom and dad are both Controllers… why haven't you asked yourself: 'Why am I free? Why am I not a controller?'" I looked up at her. "What if…. your parents agreed to become Controllers, so _you_ wouldn't become one? That they wanted to keep you _free,_ and _away_ from all of this torment of being a slave to those slugs?"

Melissa was still silent, so I continued. "Maybe… your parents love you more than you think," I said. "Maybe they love you so much, they were willing to sacrifice _their own freedom,_ to make sure you were still free, that you could grow up and be yourself, and not have your life ruled by some slug in your head?"

She was silent for about a minute, the only sounds coming from all of the people in the food court. Finally, she spoke again. "You… you think… they would do that?" she asked.

I smiled a bit. "Your slug-free, aren't you?" I asked. "I promise you Melissa, we _will_ free your parents, and you can hear it from themselves how and why they got Yeerked. If we're lucky, we can do it once we find an entrance to the pool."

Finally, after another moment of silence, Melissa smiled a bit. "Thanks… Jordan." she said. "It… it was nice to talk to you… about this. I would have spoken with Rachel, but..."

"Don't mention it," I said. "Well, while we're here… can I get you something to eat? I've still got some cash to burn."

Me and Melissa just ate lunch together, and made small talk for the time until we both had to leave. It was nice to talk with Melissa, and I could only hope I got some of that emotional baggage off of her.

This is the reason I became an Animorph. To help everyone, to _save_ everyone from a bleak, dark future… already I could see things shifting, changing due to either my actions, or due to those outside my own control. This was the textbook definition of the butterfly effect. They were small for now, like Marco's shift in demeanor the day before… but it would eventually grow into something more entirely.

And that… was what terrified me the most.

* * *

 **117Jorn: And there you have it! Chapter is DONE! Also a special thanks to Sarah1281 for letting me use some of her 'Just missed the call' fic for this chapter. So until next time… Ja NE!**


	5. Chapter 5

"Screams," Jake said. "Human screams. They sounded far off, but that's what they were."

It was Monday afternoon, right after Jake and the Animorphs got out of school. We were now gathered at the Mall's food court, sharing a bowl of nachos. Jake had successfully infiltrated the school and confirmed the entrance of the Yeerk Pool was there.

"You were a lizard at the time," Marco said. "Who knows what you heard?"

"I know," Jake said nodding firmly.

"Makes sense when you think about it," I said suddenly, deciding to put my own input in the situation. "I mean… the location is perfect for three reasons. The pool being underground makes it extremely hard to find for anyone - would you look for an alien invasion force _underground?_ Not to mention with it being in the school, people like Chapman, Tom and other people who either go to school there or or work there would have, they can access it without raising any suspicion."

"That's two reasons, what's the third?" Marco asked, and I smirked.

"Isn't it obvious?" I asked. "It's school, where else would you look for a source of pure, unadulterated evil?"

That gave everyone a good laugh to break up some of the tension, I could've sworn I heard Marco mutter 'I'm starting to like this guy' but that might of just been my imagination. "Either way, we need to do something, jokes aside," Rachel said.

"Yeah, let's rush down there," Marco said. "Then it can be _us_ screaming."

"We can't exactly ignore this, Marco,." I said as I grabbed another nacho chip. "What's to stop _them_ from taking a random student or teacher and slugging 'em? Hell, if we don't do something about that entrance, who's to say they won't try to nab one of us by chance? If one of us gets slugged, we're all royally screwed."

"He's right," Tobias said. "Elfangor said Yeerks can read memories of their host. One of us gets caught, they'll be able to identify _everyone_ who was at the site."

"We could always try to go to a different school..." Marco said, almost jokingly but Rachel didn't seem to take it the same way as she shot a glare at him.

"That's it then?" she asked. "Just whatever is best for Marco?"

"I don't think Marco is being selfish," Cassie said, trying to defuse the situation before it got out of hand. "Just the opposite. He's thinking about his father, About what would happen to his dad if Marco..."

"He's not the only one with people to worry about," Rachel said, "I have a family, we all do."

"Not me," Tobias said softly, smiling his sad crooked smile. "It's true. No one gives a rat's ass about me."

"That's bullshit and you know it, Tobias," I said, pointing a finger at him. "You're my friend, so I care about what happens to you."

"So do I," Rachel said, nodding.

"Look," Jake said. "I am not asking anyone else to go with me,. But I don't have a choice. I heard that scream today, and I know Tom is going down there tonight. He's my brother, I have to try and save him." He held out his hands helplessly. "I have to do it, for Tom."

"You don't have to ask me," I said, leaning back. "I'm in weather you guys like it or not."

"I'm going in too," Tobias said. "For the Andalite."

"There is no one else who can do anything to stop the Yeerks," Rachel said. " I'm scared to death just by thinking about it, but I'm there."

Marco groaned a bit. "You're my best friend you jerk," he muttered to Jake. "Like I'm gonna let you face this alone? I'm in. I'm in to rescue Tom, that's it, then I'm done… for now at least..."

"Either way, we need better morphs that what we have now," I said. "Right now I think the most powerful morph we have is the wolf I acquired at Cassie's barn, not to mention mine and Tobias's birds of prey. We're gonna need some more firepower than a dog, lizard, horse, and house cats."

"He's right," Melissa said with a nod. "I think our best bet to get anything worthwhile would be the Garden, right?"

"I can get in free," Cassie said. "You guys will have to pay, but I can use my mom's employee discount, so it will be cheaper."

"Oh, I'm sure we could talk them into letting us in for nothing," Marco said. "Just tell them we're the Animorphs."

"Tell them we're what?" Rachel demanded.

"Idiot teenager with a deathwish," Marco said.

"Animorphs… Animal Morphers..." I said, grinning as I tested it out. "I _like_ it… and don't worry about money getting in. I'll pay for us all."

The others all looked at me in surprise. "Really?" Melissa asked, sounding surprised. "I mean… we could probably pay..."

"Don't worry, it's cool," I said, waving my hand. "I've got a lot of cash to burn; might as well put it to a good cause."

Marco grinned. "How about getting me a Playstation or a Nintendo 64?" he asked teasingly with a bit of hopefulness.

I half-glared at Marco. "Don't test your luck," I said, and the others laughed.

* * *

 **Later, The Garden**

* * *

I've read a lot of books on Animorphs, and the one thing that is almost constantly mentioned is The Garden, the perfect hybrid between a Zoo and an Amusement Park. And let me tell ya, actually being there almost had me shivering in excitement. As promised I payed for everyone's entry into the Garden. We walked through the amusement park half of the Garden, and believe me I was tempted to jump on some of the rides. They were just way too awesome!

But, unfortunately I knew I had bigger things to do, like getting me and the Animorphs some true combat morphs. Cassie led us to the main building which held all kinds of exhibits which had many different animals except the really big ones that needed a lot of space, which were un further out more grassy habitats that looked more like parks.

We walked near an otter habitat, when cassie stopped. "Okay, now everyone stays together, and try not to be too suspicious-looking, we're going inside."

"Right, no one start humming the Mission: Impossible theme," I whispered. "I'm looking at you Marco!" Marco just rolled his eyes but he had a smirk on his face.

"So, where _are_ we going?" he asked.

"Well, the way it works is, there are walkways behind all of the exhibits." Cassie explained. "That's how they feed the animals, and give them meds or whatever. Meds are medicines. Sorry." She pointed to an inconspicuous doorway. "Anyways, we can go in through there."

We all nodded as we followed Cassie through the door, and we found ourselves out of the fake rainforest, and now in a hallway which looked like it belonged to a school, only it smelt WORSE. "Okay, look," Cassie said as we walked down the halls. "If any staff people stop us, the story is we're here to see my mom. Of course, it's so late in the afternoon she won't be here. I hope. Because if she finds out I've been dragging six of my friends around back here…. well, I can't be saving the world from alien invaders if I'm grounded. Hopefully , there won't be many staff people here at all."

"I've got my own excuse," I said, pulling out a notepad from my pocket. "I'll just tell them we're doing a school project on the animal kingdom, and you said you could give us a behind-the-scenes look at how animals in captivity are taken care of and treated."

Cassie blinked, but nodded as she guided us through the inner-workings of the Garden. It was a pretty straight-forward run at first, we got Marco to acquire his soon-to-be iconic Gorilla Morph, had a close call with the man who worked here before we continued on our way… but then the guards found us.

"Hey! Hey you! What are you kids doing back here?"

And then, everyone darted. Jake and Marco going one way, Cassie Rachel and Tobias going another way, and somehow I ended up grabbing Melissa and ran as we headed a completely different way. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, considering I didn't want to end up causing Jake to _not_ get his tiger morph, or for Rachel to _not_ get her elephant morph. So we just ran a bit aimlessly through the halls for a bit.

"Are we lost?" Melissa asked after we had wandered around for a few minutes.

"We're not lost," I reassured her as I looked at the labels for each of the rooms. "We just… don't know where we are."

"We're lost," Melissa muttered, bowing her head.

"Just… just hang on," I said, as we passed a few doors, each one marked a different label, P-303, P-304, and P-305. However as we walked by, I heard voices coming from one of the doors. "Shit, hide!" I hissed as me and Melissa took cover behind a steel cart. A few moments later, two men in lab coats lefts the door marked P-302, one of them carrying a Tranquilizer Gun.

"Glad _that's_ over with," the first man said with a sigh. "I didn't think Lalah would ever fall asleep."

"She's a Lion, Carl," the second one said. "I just hope this whole project works. I hope she gets use to Tora."

"Hey, if this works the Garden will have a _Tigon_ exhibit!" the first man, Carl, said, grinning. "How awesome is that gonna be? And with Tora as a _White_ Tiger..."

The second man just rolled his eyes. "You're such a child, Carl," he muttered. "But we won't have a Tigon until they both wake up and..." However their voices were drowned out as they walked away, and once they were gone me and Melissa got out of our cover.

"A tiger and a lion huh?" I said, a grin on my face while Melissa looked at me with a deadpan look.

"Jordan _, please_ tell me you're joking," she whispered.

"They just said they're asleep," I reasoned. "That guy had a tranquilizer gun. We'll be fine. Besides, what better morph could we get than two of the biggest apex predators in the _world?_ "

Melissa looked like she was about to argue, but she just groaned. "If _one_ of them are awake, we're bailing," she said firmly, and I nodded as we stood up as we headed for the door. I saw a note on the side of the door, which read the Habitat was still a 'work in progress' and it wasn't open for the public yet, so we didn't have to worry about any onlookers spotting us. Using the key that was hanging by the door itself we unlocked it and entered the habitat. It was a large very jungle-like habitat, with trees and flowers across the ground and around us.

We walked forward for a few minutes, until finally we saw our first target: A lioness, a female lion which was lying on the ground sound asleep, lying in the middle of a small grassy opening with sunlight shining through.

"Alright, there's the lioness," I said grinning. "Now, where is the-" Suddenly, I heard a soft grumble behind me, followed by the sound of licking lips as me and Melissa froze as we turned around… and standing right behind us, was the aforementioned tiger.

As the two zoo vets had mentioned, he was a Bengal Tiger, a _White_ Bengal Tiger. To be honest when I was a kid I loved tigers, still do. I've read that Bengal Tigers are the national animal of India and Bangladesh, and is also one of the most numerous tiger subspecies known. I guess I got into them because my dad was a Cincinnati Bengals fan. Of course that wasn't what I was thinking about at the moment, as I was frozen in fear as I saw the tiger staring up at me.

"Jordan..." Melissa whispered, not sure what to do.

However, I took a closer look at the tiger… and I realized he was giving us a rather lazy gaze. He didn't look hungry, and it looked like his eyes were drooping… ' _He was tranquilized,_ ' I thought. ' _He's not asleep, but he will be soon..._ '

"Melissa… acquire the lioness," I whispered, as Melissa looked at me like I was nuts. "I'll acquire the tiger… the acquiring process puts them in a trance, and in that time… we bail." Melissa looked like she was going to protest, but a quick glare from me silenced her, as she did as I instructed as I focused my eyes on the Tiger.

"Alright, buddy," I said to the Tiger. "I need something of yours to help me out… and I am _not_ turning into your next meal. So, I'm going to touch you, and you are going to sleep. Capiche?"

The tiger didn't respond… well, not vocally. However it did lie down on the ground, resting its head on the ground as it continued to just stare up at me. I slowly reached my hand towards it, it was shaking like mad. Hell I was scared as shit right then… but I just kept reminding myself I was _not_ about to die right there. My had touched the tiger's head, and I immediately began to acquire it.

My luck must of been holding out, as suddenly the tiger's eyes closed. I guess the acquiring trance caused the tranquilizer to speed up its effects, which I was thankful for at the moment. "Hear them Bengals Growing, mean and angry," I quietly sang to myself to calm my nerves. "Here he comes a'prowling, lean and hungrily. An offensive brute, Run Pass or boot, and defensively he's rough, tough! Cincinnati Bengals, that's the team we're gonna cheer to victory, touchdown bengals! Get some points up on that board and win a game for Cincinnati."

The tiger was now fast asleep, as I took my hand off of him as I glanced at Melissa who was just taking her hand off of the lioness. "You good?" I asked her as she looked back and nodded. A minute later we headed back to the entrance to the exhibit, as we both let out a breath we were holding. "Well… that was a close call." I said with a light chuckle.

"Yeah," Melissa said with a small smile. "But… we got some good morphs now, right?"

"Yeah, let's get out of here before any guards show up," I said, as I nodded in one direction as both me and Melissa walked down the hallway, following a map I found (by sheer luck on the ground) and got out of the hallways. We had a close encounter with another guard, however we left the main building and lost them in the crowds of the Garden.

"Well, we made it," Melissa said. "Now… where do we go? How do we find the others?"

"I'm sure they'll be fine," I said. "We just gotta wait… in the meantime… let's check out the dolphin exhibit." I mostly said that because I knew it would be where we would link up with Cassie, Rachel and Tobias… though part of me just wanted to see a nice calming dolphin show after that close encounter with a tiger.

So, me and Melissa reached the Dolphin exhibit, and for a while we just watched as the dolphins did their tricks to earn fish and such, as the crowds cheered them on. "Man, I hope we can morph those soon..." Melissa muttered, leaning over the rails a bit. "I can only wonder what it would be like to be a dolphin..."

I smiled a bit as I nodded. "Yeah, I know." I agreed. "Maybe someday we'll get the chance..."

For a few moments we were silent, before Melissa spoke up again. "Hey… Jordan?" she said. "What are… your parents like?"

I blinked, Melissa caught me a bit by surprise on that question. Why did she bring it up all of the sudden? Either way, I knew I had to answer, so I sighed. "Well… they were pretty much normal parents," I said. "They took care of me, helped me grow up, help me in school and all of that. They were… well, what any parent would be, caring about their children."

"Where are they now?" Melissa asked. I was silent for a few moments, as I tried to think of an answer to that. I knew _where_ they were at, but I couldn't tell Melissa they were from an alternate dimension. But at the same time I didn't feel… comfortable about lying to Melissa… so I improvised.

"I… don't know," I said. "It's been awhile since I've seen them… but I know I'll seem them soon someday. I just gotta keep looking for the day when I see them again."

Melissa hummed a bit as she nodded. "Yeah… I hope you do see them soon..." she said. "And Jordan? Thanks… again, for the… talk at the mall..."

"Don't mention it," I said smiling. "Just doing what I can to help a friend. It's what friends do, right?"

Melissa turned her head a bit, as she nodded. "Y-Yeah… " she said, it almost sounded like she stuttered, but I couldn't really tell with the dolphins splashing about.

"Hey, there you two are!" a familiar voice said behind us, as me and Melissa turned around as we saw Cassie, Tobias and Rachel approach.

"Hey guys!" I said, waving them over. "Check out the Dolphins, their awesome!"

Rachel nodded. "Yeah, they're really cool," she said, before she sent a teasing glance at Melissa. "Though, I hope we weren't…interrupting something here."

Melissa's cheeks seemed to darken a bit. "R-Rachel!" she hissed, which only caused her to laugh.

I had to turn my head, to hide a blush I was developing as well. "Anyways… me and Melissa were just thinking of what it would be like to be dolphins," I said, trying to change the subject quickly.

"We don't exactly need to morph them," Tobias pointed out. "We can only use them in water after all. Besides I'm happy with my hawk morph!"

"Well, you never know when you need a dolphin morph, considering our… line of business," I said with a shrug. "Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it… though I am guessing because of that you didn't get a morph then Tobias… what about you two?"

"African Elephant," Rachel said with a grin. "But we left before we could get anything else because Cassie wanted to find you and the others… speaking of, have you seen Jake or Marco?"

I shook my head "No, we got separated," I said and Melissa nodded. "Haven't seen 'em since."

"So, did you get any morphs you two?" Tobias asked as we started heading back to the entrance of the Garden.

Me and Melissa both grinned. "White Bengal Tiger," I said. "And Melissa got a lioness. We were lucky they were both tranquilized, but that Tiger was still awake but I put it to sleep with the acquiring trance."

"Yeah right," Rachel said rolling her eyes. "Like you could actually-"

"There they are!" Cassie said before we started to argue, as we looked and saw Marco and Jake, crouching low and making their way to the gate, obviously just getting out of their own close encounter with the Siberian Tiger enclosure and worrying about guards seeing them again.

"What did you do, morph into midgets?" Rachel asked, looking slightly amused as the two of them looked up at us.

"The guards were after us," Jake said, still looking a bit shaken up.

"Oh quit playing around Jake," said Rachel. "Come on let's get out of here, I have to be home for dinner."

* * *

After we had left the Garden, I headed back to my house to make a few final personal preparations. Since I didn't have to worry about Cassie being caught, that was one huge weight on my shoulders taken off. But I still had to be alert for _anything_ to happen when the first battle inside the Yeerk pool went down.

I entered my house, and after I grabbed me something to eat, I sat down behind my computer and accessed the 1990's internet through my 21st century computer. It was absurd just how… _primitive_ the Internet was back in these days. No Google, no Youtube, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, none of these were around. Operating online with my computer was like running through a demolition derby with an M1 Abrams MBT.

It fills me with a sense of pride knowing I probably have more advanced computers than the fucking US Military at this moment in time. Something which was tied into my overarching plans for the future. Hey, if I got about a trillion dollars in my name, I'm sure as fuck gonna use most of it to help save the world.

Stage one was simple enough: expansion. With the Cube in my possession I found myself in a position here I could recruit more people to the cause of being fellow Animorphs. I hoped by saving people during tonight's raid might allow us to beef up our roster a bit with more morph-capable humans. Of course we have to tread lightly with that: adding too many might tip Visser Three off earlier that the Andalite Bandits are really humans. That illusion needs to stay up for as long as possible for the sake of the others and their families. If they do bring more into the fold, I will likely convince Jake to place them in Reconnaissance roles - monitoring known Controllers, identifying new ones as well as new Yeerk Pool access routes.

But that was just the tip of the iceberg. I didn't just want to recruit a few new morphers: what I needed… what _Earth_ needed was an army, a _real_ army that could actually hold its own against the Yeerks. It was _very_ apparent that the militaries of 1990's earth would be… _hard pressed_ to fight off the Yeerks when they go into full-scale invasion mode. That needed to be rectified and quickly. And that meant uplifting their technology a bit.

Of course I couldn't do it - hey I may be good, but I'm not fucking Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. But I had an idea that could help pull it off… I may not be a super-genius, but I know a certain race of robot dogs that were walking around the place that were.

Yup. The good old Chee.

Think about it: this is a race of Androids that have been around since the time the Pharaoh's were calling the shots in Egypt. There _had_ to be a few good entrepreneurs among the Chee. They could help him kickstart a corporate entity which can begin work on steadily upgrading mankind's technology level to a point where they won't get _totally_ curb-stomped by the Yeerks. Of course the biggest issue obviously was their pacifist nature which prevents them from causing violence… but thankfully around book 10 they'll have the means to switch that around.

Thinking about Book 10 always made my blood boil a bit. I loved the book - it was among one of the first Animorphs books I read when I was introducing myself to the series - but I was always kinda mad at what Erik King did. He _saved_ the Animorphs doing what he did, and his reaction was to swear off killing, and just let Marco _loose_ the Palamite Crystal in the FUCKING BEACH?! What the hell?! You didn't even LET your fellow Chee make their own decision on the matter! This is the _survival and freedom of humanity_. And on top of that, he's a FUCKING. ROBOT. If he was so horrified by the memory of killing, he could literally just have those memories erased, or blocked off or something! If he could have memories uploaded from the Iskroot to project on Holograms, they could be erased just as easily!

Its that reason that I am actually kinda envious of the Chee. They have the _option_ to erase those memories, to forget it ever even happened. But me and us humans? We gotta live with the knowledge we killed sentient beings for the rest of our lives. It may dull away with the passage of time, but the memories will _always_ be there. But despite knowing this, in the back of my mind, I know that most of those people would rather be dead that a slave to the Yeerks. But this is _war_ we are talking about. It's not supposed to be fun or pleasant, it's scary, it's horrible, it's bloody business. But if I have to kill a few Yeerk-infested Controllers in order to let a few more humans, or even Hork-Bajir have a chance for freedom? I'm willing to carry that burden all the way to the finish line.

I let out a tired sigh, I didn't like getting angry, and I didn't have the time for it as I continued my work - namely schematics for the new bunker. Yes, Bunker. Once I manage to contact the Chee, until I can get the Pemalite Crystal, I was confident I could get them to help us build a bunker system around the soon-to-be Hork-Bajir Valley. Basically it will be an underground base, similar to the one the Chee apparently have under Erik's house. A place for the Animorphs and their families to hide when shit hits the fan inevitably. There were a lot of details to hammer out regarding those, but the general idea was simple and practical enough so long as I could get the Chee on our side.

I was actually considering trying to hunt out the Chee to get some work done with them early… I _could_ pull it off, use a Dog morph to find a human who didn't have their own scent, and/or a Wolf Spider to see through their holograms. Though before I could get deeper into that line of thought, the phone rang. I moved to answer it as I picked it up, and knowing that only a few people know my phone, I made a good guess who it was. "Tobias?" I asked.

" _Yeah, Jake just called,_ " Tobias said. " _We're moving out for the school. You ready?_ "

I sighed. "Ready as I'll ever be," I said. "Did everyone call in?"

" _Yeah… well, Rachel says Melissa didn't pick up her phone,_ " Tobias said. " _And neither did her parents either._ "

My blood started to run cold, as I began to get a very unsettling feeling about Melissa not picking up. I don't know why, but something felt… off about that.

"She didn't pick up?" I asked, making sure my voice still sounded normal. "That's weird."

" _Yeah, then again she might already be at the school waiting for us,_ " Tobias said. " _Anyways, see you there._ "

I nodded. "Yeah… see ya." I said as I hung up. Still feeling that _very_ bad feeling that something was wrong. I had stopped Cassie from being caught by the cop, I knew that… but I couldn't help but worry…

However, I shook those thoughts off as I headed for the door and began morphing into Goshawk, taking for the skies. It was only a short flight to the school, as I landed in a small patch of trees outside and demorphed, and headed for the rendezvous point with the others, where I found Jake, Rachel, Cassie, Marco, and Tobias, the latter of whom was already in hawk morph and in the air which did _not_ fill me with good thoughts. However again, I was feeling very uneased about this.

"No one has seen Melissa at all?" I asked once I arrived.

Rachel shook her head. "No, I called her home but no one answered. Tobias is looking around the area, but he hasn't had any luck yet."

"Should we wait until she shows up?" Cassie suggested. "Wait until we find out what happened?"

"Maybe she just got scared," Marco suggested. "I know I am."

I shook my head. "No… I don't think so," I said. "I've got a very bad feeling about this..."

"Me too," Rachel said nodding. "Melissa wouldn't just bail out like this. At the very least she would have called me to tell me she wasn't coming." A few moments later, Tobias flew back down as he landed on Rachel's shoulder, not looking annoyed at as as I noticed her head rub against him a little. It almost looked a bit funny, but I wasn't in a laughing mood at the moment.

" _No sight of Melissa,_ " Tobias said. " _We doing this or what?_ "

Everyone looked at Jake, as the final decision befell upon him. He looked at us all, before he sighed. "Yeah, we're doing it," he said.

Using the access route through the unlocked science lab window, we managed to get into the school easy enough. The only source of light coming from the dying lights of the sun as it glinted off of the glass beakers and test tubes.

"I'll take a look see," I said, beating Jake to the punch as I headed for the door. I cracked the door open slowly, just large enough for me to see outside. I looked down the near dark hallway to the janitor's closet, and there I saw about six people standing there, entering the closet one by one.

"We've got people entering the closet," I whispered back to the others. "Half a dozen… looks like it's Yeerk feeding time."

"How are we gonna get in there?" Marco asked.

"Wait a minute," Rachel said. "Do all Controllers know each other by sight? I mean, maybe _we're_ controllers?" She added the last part with a smirk.

"So, we just walk right on in like we belong there?" Marco asked. "Wonderful plan, Rachel. I have a better idea - let's just kill ourselves now and get it over with."

"Rachel _could_ be right," Cassie said.

"Big maybe," Marco pointed out. "Big, _huge_ maybe. How about Tom? He would know whether people like me or Jake were Controllers."

"It's likely Tom may already be down there," I said, peeking again. "And Rachel has a point - during the Second World War German Commandos used Allied uniforms behind their lines during the Battle of the Bulge, and the Allies couldn't tell the difference at first. We could do the same and pretend to be Controllers. There is no way every single Yeerk could tell who's a Controller and who's not. Too many different humans out there. Its worth a-"

I stopped myself as I saw three more people show up… and my blood immediately ran cold. The first person I recognized from the Animorphs T.V. show, Vice Principal Hedrick Chapman. The second one was a woman I didn't recognize, but the third…

My teeth bared a bit, as I let out a silent growl. " _Jordan?_ " Tobias asked. " _What is it? Is something wrong?_ "

"They have her," I hissed. "The damn Controllers… They've got Melissa!"

The others' eyes widened, none more so than Cassie and Rachel. "W-What?" Rachel stammered. "Who has Melissa… how?"

"Chapman, her dad," I growled out. "Melissa said they got in a fight a while ago… it looks like the Yeerks decided to deal with her once and for all..."

"Son of a bitch!" Rachel cursed, letting out a series of other choice words as she moved me aside, and got a look for herself. "It _is_ him… and Mrs. Chapman. Like _hell_ I'm letting them take her!"

"Okay, we're going in like Rachel said," Jake spoke up quickly. "We figure there are too many Controllers for them to know one another on sight. I mean, they must have new bodies to infect all the time, right? So maybe we're new Controllers?"

"Oh man," Marco moaned.

"We're going in, and we're saving Melissa," I said firmly, my eyes narrowed. I don't know why, but something inside me was just _screaming_ to go ahead, morph Tiger and rip up any Controller between me and Melissa, but I had to keep those thoughts in check. This was still a stealth mission for me. "We have no other plan, we go in now!"

"I know, I know," Marco said. "We take our chances with this, let's rock and roll."

"Okay then," Jake said. "Everyone act cool." He glanced at Tobias. "Too late for you to morph back now. But try not to let them see you."

Tobias nodded his hawk head, as we all stepped out of the hallway and headed for the closet. We were all nervous… scratch that, we were _beyond_ nervous. We were _terrified_. But I knew this plan would work. It _had_ to or else not only would Melissa get Yeerked, but so would we all. Luckily enough the other Controllers had gone inside already, so when we entered the tiny room. Jake followed the correct sequence for opening the door.

And then, the door opened. And then I heard the screams.

Screams of of terror, despairing cries and shouts, and the most sickening of all, shrieking triumphant laughter. I heard Marco say something about running if he saw a guy with horns and a pitchfork… I wouldn't blame him.

We stepped down the opening to the stairs. I knew deep in my heart and soul, that I was stepping into a Hell the likes of which earth has ever known. For each step we took, I knew we were moving closer to what could be the most evil place on earth.

We continued walking, deeper and deeper to the pool, until we arrived at a massive cavern. Along the sides of which I could see other stairways like ours, coming from all directions leading out from the rocky walls and down to the floor of the cavern. And on the ground floor I could see sheds and buildings built into the side of the cavern like a giant city, and large yellow caterpillar-like constructs and cranes that were obviously used in creating the massive facility. We could see aliens from Hork-Bajir and Taxxons to dozens of aliens I had never seen, however I think I saw a Gedd or two in the mix among other things. However there were of course mostly humans.

And then, I saw it. The heart of this evil place, the Yeerk Pool. A 100 in diameter circular pool with a sickly greyish color looking like melted lead, as it sloshed around as hundreds, maybe thousands of Yeerks swam around in their natural state, absorbing what they need to survive in their most vulnerable state. And around it I could see the cages, with Hork-Bajir locked in larger heavy-duty cages, pacing and howling slashing the air with their bladed arms. And then there were the smaller cages for humans, men, women, children, adults, all packed into cages like animals, making me think of places like morges, graveyards and Nazi Death Camps.

I knew I should've expected this. I knew I should've prepared for what I might see down there. But no amount of reading every last Animorphs book could of prepared me for actually seeing - with my own two eyes- the Yeerk Pool. At at the bottom, at the line to the infection pier, I could see Melissa being dragged by her own mother and father to be infected.

"I'm morphing!" Rachel growled out. "I'm going to get Melissa away from them. "

"Not yet," Cassie said, putting a calming hand on her shoulder. "We need to get down there first."

" _Melissa's okay, Rachel,_ " Tobias said. " _She isn't hurt, she's just scared- hey, Jordan!_ "

But Tobias was too late, I was marching down the stairs down to the pool with a glare that could kill Visser Three etched into my eyes. I don't know what came over me, but it was like every inch of my body was on auto-pilot with two goals in mind: Kill all Yeerks, and save Melissa. ' _Thrown into cages like animals,_ ' I was thinking. ' _How many people are in this hellhole? You sons of bitches… scumbags… mother fuckers..._ ' My thoughts soon formed into words that I was silently muttered under my breath. "You Mother Fuckers think you can just throw us into goddamn cages? Take our planet, and enslave our families? I'll burn you sons of bitches! We're not fucking cattle for you to slaughter! I'm gonna make you fuckers pay!"

The others were following me, catching up to me as I marched down the stairs. "Jordan, calm down!" Jake hissed. "You won't do them any good dea-" He was cut off as I shot a glare at him, which must have scared the others a bit. When I get mad, people tell me it's a scary sight. But at that moment I wasn't mad… I was _livid._

"I am getting into cover…" I growled out. "Morphing tiger… and I will kill _everything_ between me and that pool, and then we are going to free _everyone_ there. Don't you _fucking_ try to stop me, Jake!"

" _Jordan, Chill!_ " Tobias said, " _We're going to save her, but you're not going to save anyone without a clear head. Come on man!_ "

I knew he was right, but I still wanted to just run in and start smashing skulls. But I had to remind myself… keep to the timeline, keep to the original events as close as possible. "Then let's… go." I growled, reigning in my anger.

I was able to keep it together just long enough for me and the others to reach the bottom of the stairs to take cover behind a shed. Tobias was up in the sky outside the sight of the Yeerks, keeping an eye on Tom who was locked in a cage, and Melissa. I heard Marco and Jake talking about not letting the Yeerks take them alive, and as if on cue I heard the voice of another man shout "Hey! You three!" We turned around, as we saw a single Human-Controller, flanked by a much larger Hork-Bajir Controller and a Taxxon. He had only noticed Jake, Marco and me, he didn't see Cassie or Rachel behind them. "Who are you?"

Knowing I had to buy some time for the others to morph, I had to take a risky gambit. I stepped forward. "Odret One-One-Seven," I said, completely making up a Yeerk name on the spot. "From the Sulp Niar Pool… is there a problem?"

Obviously I had caught the Yeerk and Hork-Bajir by surprise, as were the Animorphs. The Human-Controller looked at me, still a slightly suspicious look in his eyes. "Who are those with you?" he asked, pointing to Jake and Marco behind me.

"We're just waiting for the line to die down a bit," I informed, gesturing to the long line of the Yeerk Pool. "We still have some time before we _need_ to get more Kandrona. And our hosts are Voluntary, so that is not an issue either."

The Yeerk actually seemed convinced - after all, why the hell would a non-Controller _want_ to come down into the closest thing there was to hell on earth? And the illusion worked for just long enough, as I had a brief glance behind the Controllers where I saw Rachel was already morphing, getting bigger… much, much bigger, as large leathery ears popped from her head, and her nose stretched out into a long elephant-like trunk. And before long… Rachel was now a thirteen foot tall African Elephant. " _Ha HA!_ " she cheered in thought-speak. " _I did it!_ "

It was then that the Taxxon was the first one to notice Rachel with its big red-jelly eyes but he must have been so shocked by what was behind it he couldn't react as Rachel began to charge. The Hork-Bajir however managed to spin around to slice Rachel's trunk, but it was too little too late as Rachel was already moving forward, and a little flesh wound like that wasn't going to stop her. " _Puny little thing!_ " Rachel cried in outrage " _You attack ME!?_ " The Hork-Bajir got trampled on, smashed under Rachel's great weight, and the Taxxon tried to run as well, but with similar results.

The Human-Controller however just looked in morbid shock with his mouth hanging open. "What the..." he muttered. However I moved behind him and with a severe chop to the back of the neck, I managed to knock him down to the ground, and when he was down I delivered three good punches to his face. When I was sure he was out, I looked back at the others. "Morph! Now!" I shouted.

This snapped the others out of their stunned gazes, as they began their morphs. I stood up as I closed my eyes, and focused on my first combat morph. The Bengal Tiger. I moved into the shadows as Rachel was already going full-berserk on the Controllers, and I glanced at Marco and Jake as their changes began, Marco growing fur and Jake growing his own tiger tail. I glanced at Cassie, and found she hasn't morphed yet for some reason. She saw my gaze and spoke. "Someone with hands needs to open those cages," she said. "Besides, the only morph I have is a horse."

I nodded, as I continued to focus on my tiger morph. I focused on every aspect of the great creature, from the white and black fur of its body, down to all of the strength and power I knew it hid. The only things I had morphed up to that point were two types of birds and a mouse. I knew that morphing a full-fledged tiger would be a different experience entirely.

I was right.

The first thing that began to change were, surprisingly my ears. My human ears receded back into my head, but they were quickly replaced by white and black tiger ears which sprouted from my head. Soon I began to feel my bones and body shifting, losing my human shape as I was forced to fall to all fours as my body elongated, and expanded to meet the size and shape of a tiger. My head grew as did my teeth in my mouth, as I began to see things differently through the eyes of a tiger.

Soon, I had done it. I had become a full-fledged 100% White Bengal Tiger. And then I was hit by the massive surge of power that came with it, feeling like there was a series of slow-motion explosions of power within me. I could feel my teeth, my claws, everything which made me a Tiger. And the eyes, with the eyes of a Tiger I could see even the most darkest corners of the pool.

I felt like a god.

A vengeful god, who wanted to punish the Yeerks for tormenting the humans of earth for far too long.

 **BGM: "Dragon Force" Fairy Tail OST**

I stepped out from the shadows that hid me from the sights of the Yeerks, all of them focusing on the already morphed Rachel who was causing chaos among the Yeerks, squishing Taxxons and tossing Hork-Bajir like rag dolls. Marco and Jake were just beginning to finish their morphs, but I took the initiative to give the Yeerks another target to attack.

So I roared.

"RRRROOOOOOWWWWLLLL!"

The sound of the roar was practically ear-shattering, as any nearby human controller's legs turned to jello and fell in fear. Taxxons scurried away, and even mighty Hork-Bajir froze in fear. Using this moment of hesitation to my advantage, I charged forward, running on all four legs as I rushed to the closest Hork-Bajir, and once I was close enough I leaped into the air, soaring through it as I pounced on the alien creature, the strength of my strike pushing the Hork-Bajir down to the ground. While it was still stunned, I extended my Tiger claws, and ripped apart its neck, turning it into shreds.

When the Hork-Bajir was thoroughly dead, I jumped off of him to search for my next target, leaving little time to consider I had just killed the alien creature. My mind was entirely focused on saving Melissa, not caring what got in my way. I saw Marco and Jake had fully morphed, and were already going at it against the Controllers with Rachel in her elephant morph. I saw Cassie trying to sneak behind the Yeerk lines in the confusion, making her way to the infestation pool to save Melissa.

I directed myself towards the direction of the Pool, as I saw Melissa was just behind the next person in line to be Yeerked. She was fighting and screaming trying to wrestle out of her parents' grasps. I let out a tiger growl as I moved as fast as my tiger body could take me, knowing I had to get there before it was too late. With my enhanced Tiger hearing, I could hear Melissas words as she fought against her parents, trying to be freed.

However…something odd happened. It almost looked like the Yeerk inside Chapman had enough of Melissa, and raised his free hand to slap Melissa, causing her to flinch… but it froze. It remained suspended in the air for a few moments, as Chapman's eyes went wide, and suddenly so did Mrs. Chapman's as well. Suddenly, they let go of Melissa, as they fell to their knees, punching themselves and choking themselves.

It was then, it hit me. ' _Host Rebellion… Its a Host Rebellion!_ ' I thought. If I still had a human mouth I would be grinning wickedly. ' _The Chapman's are fighting back!_ ' Just as I thought this, I could hear Chapman croak out the words "Melissa, run!" which was all she needed as she darted away from the infestation pier. The Hork-Bajir guard attempted to grab her, but at that point… I had finally arrived.

"RRRROOOOOOWWWWLLLL!" I let out another animalistic roar, as I tackled the Hork-Bajir, my claws piercing through his chest as the Hork-Bajir fell backwards into the Pool. I then turned to Melissa, who had a look of surprise on her face.

" _Melissa!_ " I shouted in Thought-Speech, directed at her " _Find some cover and morph! Once we free as many people we can, we're bailing!_ "

Melissa looked at me in shock, but nodded as she rushed off to an area to Morph. I looked back at where Marco was, as he was being blocked off from the cages by a large group of Taxxons. Although Taxxons are easy enough to kill, in large numbers they can easily pose a threat. However I knew that Taxxons had one very critical weakness that can always be exploited.

I made a mad dash towards Marco and the Taxxons, slicing at the legs of a Human-Controller and biting off the neck of a Hork-Bajir that got in my way, but managed to get a small slash into my side, but I trudged on before I reached the first Taxxon. I raised my claws, and slashed open the first Taxxon, its balloon-like body bursting into a pool of gore, some of which fell onto me. However the deed was done, as the other Taxxons began to swarm over their fallen comrade, eating him alive.

" _Marco, head for the cages, and free as many people as you can! I'll hold them off!_ " I shouted, " _Taxxons are cannibals! Just wound one and the Taxxons will forget about us!_ "

" _How the hell do you know that?_ " Marco shouted as he delivered a punch to another Taxxon, sending it flying. " _You write a book on alien biology or something?_ "

" _JUST FUCKING DO IT!_ " I shouted louder, as I tore another Taxxon to pieces. " _Grab Tom, free as many others as you can, and then we fucking bail!_ "

That apparently got the message across, as Marco moved from the Taxxons and headed for the cages, using his morph's superior strength to crush and tear off the locks and bars of the cages, letting the captive humans and Hork-Bajir out.

I leaped over to cover Melissa's morphing, ensuring anything heading her way would end up shredded by my claws. However as I did that though, I heard the familiar TSEWWWW of Dracon Beams, and one passed right above me, near-missing me, and causing me to duck - my eyes darting for the source, which thankfully was fairly close.

I recognized her as the woman from the Beach meeting, glaring at me as she aimed the small weapon at me. "Andalite… Die…!" She growled out, firing… and missing again. I didn't even dodge. She was either a horrible shot or…

"Stop… _STOP!_ " She growled, as she slapped her own head. "Not now.. Dammit not now!"

I blinked… was she host rebelling too? I approached her, cautiously as I eyed where the Dracon Beam weapon was aiming. If I could just get it away from her…

"I… I am not letting you.. H-have freedom!" The Yeerk growled… as it aimed the Dracon Beam towards her own head. That was all the motivation I needed, as I leaped forward, and knocked the weapon out from her grasp - clasping my paw over it, secured on the ground.

"NO!" She screamed, falling to her knees as she banged the ground. "Nonono! You… you won't fucking win! You… you are… are just… an in...insect!"

I continued to watch… this wasn't just a host rebellion… this was a Yeerk _dying_ from Kandrona starvation. While my eyes continued to search for any more approaching enemies… I still looked over the woman, as she slowly regained her freedom from the Yeerk.

"Get… Out!" She hissed, her hands flying to her ears as she practically dug into them. "Out… Out! OUT!" With a resounding scream, she yanked something from her right ear, with a faint trail of blood coming out as she slammed a blood-covered sluggish creature from her head, and promptly slapped it like it were a mosquito.

"DIE!" She screamed, as she beat the dying Yeerk into the dirt. "DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!"

Eventually, she stopped - as she breathed heavily as she began checking over herself, using her hands, legs, fingers, making sure that this truly was happening - that she had full control over herself once more.

* * *

I was finally free. It had taken months, but I was finally free from that damn slug. I looked into the palm of my hand, where what was left of the Yeerk remained squashed. I finally looked up, my eyes hard. I wasn't about to get infested again, not on my watch! And I was gonna save my team! My crew!

I turned and looked at the tiger, the apparent Andalite in morph, and for all intents and purposes the being that had just allowed me to be freed. I held out a hand to it. "Hand over the beam gun!" I growled. "I have some slugs to Burn!"

The Tiger nodded - which looked very odd - before it slid the Dracon gun towards me " _Focus on freeing people, we can't stay here for much longer._ " It told me, " _If there is anyone here you know personally, now is the time._ "

I nodded, as I picked up the weapon and headed towards the cages. The Andalite had given me and my friends a second chance - and we were not about to waste it.

* * *

I ran off, cocking the gun and baring my teeth. Within me I could feel a burning rage, directly in the middle of my chest. My eyes were hard as I fiddled with the small gun, shunting extra energy to the power supply and overclocking the power flow. _Glad that the slug was a weapons expert!_ I thought as I aimed and fired.

The familiar red beam lanced out, I fired at one of the Hork Bajir, slicing a kneecap off with the beam and whirled, firing another at one of the others guarding a cage. This one had its head cut clean off. I aimed at another, this time cleaving off an elbow. A fourth went down with both kneecaps burnt to ashes.

I was furious at these slugs. I will admit it. But I was also determined to save my team. The Hork Bajir I just wiped out were guards for my teammates. All three of them.

One last guard whirled and saw me, and my face was split by a feral grin. "You wanna play?! Then bring it!"

"You _Gnashak!_!" The Hork-Bajir Controller snapped, speaking in both English and the universal language of Galard. "You _Methna_ now, but cannot win against _Groshek_!"

"Not this time!" I snarled. I aimed the gun and fired, but apparently he had seen my attacks on his fellows and dodged it, sprinting past me and attacking with one of its blades along its arms. I gritted my teeth and barely dodged it myself, the blade gashing my shirt sleeve.

I tore it off before I aimed the gun towards the alien, making him freeze. I used this moment to try and free myself a bit more, as I seared the second sleeve and tore it off, as well as the hem of the skirt and tore it off, leaving just the simple pair of shorts, and kicked off the stupid high-heel dress shoes

The Hork Bajir sneered. " _Vathan_. But futile."

"Hardly!" I growled. He lunged at me again, but now that I was no longer restricted in my movements, I dove to the side and my leg lashed in a kick, thrusting upwards and smashing my heel into the beak. A grunt came from the alien and I swung the hand with the gun around and bashed his face with the butt of it. I punched a few more times, feeling blood oozing from my fingers and knuckles. But it felt good.

The Hork Bajir backed off, glaring at me with his good eye; I had punched his left eye with my gun hand. "You _Kaktah_ …"

He charged at me again and slugged me in the cheek, sending me flying back into a large tub of water. The water splashed on top of me, but that was the least of my worries. With a snarl, I whipped the long hair out of my face before I grabbed it and with a quick burst from my beam gun, scorched off the long bangs and then off went the curly hair that slug had me wearing - making sure the Hork-Bajir couldn't grab it. I then grabbed the closest rag and tied it firmly around my forehead, keeping my smoking bangs out of my face. Now I was feeling more like myself again. And I reveled in it.

The Hork Bajir attacked me again, slugging with a fist and arm blade. But I rolled to the side, skidding on bare feet. It hurt like hell, but at the moment that was the least of my worries as I pushed off the ground and ran at him, a battle cry escaping my throat. And one full of fury and rage.

My hand lashed out and grabbed a nearby pipe and I fired the beam gun again, hitting the alien on the side before I spun, the sharp jagged end cutting open the burn.

A loud cry of pain escaped his throat and I lunged once more, a feral roar echoing in the chamber as I thrust that pipe forward, spearing him through the throat. His eyes widened and he gagged, clawing at the pipe as I ran past him, leaving him to his fate.

With the immediate threat dealt with, I turned my gaze to a far more important target as I looked towards the cages - I aimed my Dracon gun at three in particular, burning off their locks, freeing those inside.

Tony.

Vanessa.

Steven.

My team, my allies, and most importantly, my best friends. They all were stunned. Not by my savage attack (I've done much crazier in the past), but more on the fact that… I was free. The Yeerk was no longer in control.

I waved a hand. "C'mon! Let's beat it!" I shouted, snapping them out of their stupor. We gotta get outta here while we still can!"

Their looks of shock quickly shifted to feral grins as they kicked their cages open. Tony cracked his knuckles. "Save some for me then!" he said, his blue eyes hard as ice.

Vanessa rubbed her ears. "Never again!" she hissed. "Any weapons lying about?"

Steven was as calm as ever, but his eyes were like dark brown holes at this point. They were filled to the brim with nothing but hatred for the Yeerks. "Give me anything and they'll be shreds!" he whispered in a low voice.

"Plenty on the ground and in the shed over there!" I shouted, pointing towards the nearby shed as I aimed the weapon with my free hand - firing it at the locks for other cages. "Grab something and let's go! Give the Andalites a hand!"

* * *

 **Jordan's POV**

* * *

' _Huh… they know what they're doing..._ ' I mused, as the girl who was just freed just busted out three others, and they began freeing even more people from their cages.

" _Who the hell are those guys?_ " Marco asked after he bashed open another cage holding a human captive.

" _Reinforcements I guess,_ " I said. " _Just keep freeing people Marco! We've got you covered!_ "

Marco didn't say anything, but he continued doing what he was doing. I heard a loud lion roar behind me followed by a cry of pain as I looked behind and saw a Lioness pronounce on a Hork-Bajir that was trying to sneak up behind me, and sliced a good few slashes into its chest. " _You should be more careful, Jordan,_ " Melissa said in thought-speak. " _He almost got you._ "

I mentally smirked. " _Well, its a good thing you have my back Melissa._ " I said. " _You alright?_ "

" _Yeah, for the most part._ " Melissa said, as the two of us stood side by side. " _Thanks for the save, you guys._ "

" _Hey, we weren't about to let them get you!_ " Rachel shouted, in the distance we could see her elephant form tearing through the Yeerk lines easily. " _Now come on, we gotta finish this up ASAP._ "

Melissa nodded as we leaped back into the fray of battle - I took a moment to witness the absolute chaos that was enveloping the Yeerk Pool.

Controllers were desperately trying to multitask between stopping the raging animals, and recapturing the freed controllers who were either A. Running for the nearest exit, or B. were grabbing the first thing they could use as a weapon to help fight the Yeerks, from Dracon Beams and Human-made weapons to just steel pipes. These people were fighting for their very freedom, for the right to live free or die. And while the Yeerks were barely keeping them contained, they were still giving them hell. If I had a human mouth, I would be smirking. These people, once crying in misery, and shouting for freedom, were now shouting out cries of battle. This was the power of humanity. This was the power of hope, and courage.

However, I knew we could not save all of them… but I intended to save as many as I could. But I also knew time was short, it was only a matter of time before Visser Three showed up. I looked around Jake, as I saw he and Marco had managed to bust Tom out, and were heading for the first exit.

" _Everyone! Head for the exits!_ " I shouted in wide-open thought speak, so all of the freed humans and Hork-Bajir could hear. " _To the stairs! Don't let the Yeerks take you back alive!_ " I paused for a split second, before I added. " _FREE OR DEAD!_ "

That got them riling quickly, as across the pool, freed controllers began charging for the exits, some of them, even Hork-Bajir, chanting out 'Free or Dead' as they attacked any Yeerks between them and the exit.

We all scrambled for the exit while the woman and her friends bolted for the other side of the pool.

* * *

 **Jessica POV**

* * *

I ran for the exit with my team beside me, "C'mon!" I shouted. "Any longer and you'll be trapped!" They heeded my cry and ran after me, but I stepped aside and we all let them pass. Better to let them go first rather than let them die while we covered the rear.

Then, things went downhill.

" _Oh shit..._ " I heard one of the Andalites mutter in thought speak, as I looked at him and saw the white bengal tiger from before looking in one direction, and I followed his gaze and I paled a bit myself. Stepping out daintily from a bunch of Hork-Bajir, was none other than Visser Three.

"Oh shit..." I agreed.

Visser Three seemed from first glance rather calm, but I could tell he was livid from the inside, but keeping himself composed to command his troops properly. We were not the only ones who noticed this, as the Animorphs quickly saw Visser Three as well, as well as a few of the runners.

A Taxxon slithered up beside Visser Three, and spoke in its somewhat whistling voice. The Visser said nothing, he just looked at us with those vertical slits that were his eyes.

" _This Taxxon fool says you are wild animals,_ " Visser Three said, " _He wants to know if he and his brothers can eat you._ " He let out a short silent laugh " _But I know you are not animals. I _know _who and what you are. So, not all of you Andalites died when I burned your ships…and it looks like you even freed the old resistance fighters… I suppose I should've killed them earlier..._ "

That voice, tainted with fear and evil, crept into our thoughts and minds. Steven shuddered and glanced back, pure rage filling his brown eyes. Tony whirled, his entire body tense like a spring. Vanessa meanwhile held her own Dracon beam close to her chest, her eyes wide and locked onto the spot where the thought-speak had come from.

"Your time here _will_ come to an end, Visser!" I snapped.

Visser Three let out another laugh. " _Correction, it is your time that has come to an end, human,_ " he said. " _I must commend both you and your new… Andalite Allies, for making it this far. But it will accomplish nothing. Because now, my brave Andalite Warriors and Human Primitives, you are in my domain. Once I kill you all, I will recapture all of the hosts you had set free, and if any of you happen to survive… I will infest you with my best and most trusted lieutenants._"

"Good luck with that!" Steven snapped.

" _You will not stop the progress we have spent so long building here on this planet._ " Visser Three continued. " _You will all die, and the invasion will continue as if nothing had happened._ "

" _You underestimate these humans, Visser Three,_ " Another thought-speak voice said, causing me to blink as I turned and recognized it was one of the Andalites, whose tiger body stepped forward as if challenging the Yeerk Commander.

Visser Three glanced at the white tiger body. " _So the Andalites speak,_ " he mused out loud. " _And how, might I ask Andalite Scum, are we underestimating this weak race of hosts?_ "

" _Unlike you Visser Three, I have seen what Humanity can accomplish,_ " he said. " _I have spent much time researching humanity… and although they may not be ready to accept the same responsibilities as us Andalites… the progress they have made so far proves their potential as a future space-faring race someday… maybe even sooner than we think._ "

Visser Three laughed loudly at that. " _Humans a space-faring race on their own?_ " he asked almost incredulously. " _You have not researched them enough, Andalite. For they are still divided upon themselves over such meager subjects, such as their 'culture' and 'religion'. Never before have I seen a race so divided against itself! If we committed to an open invasion, we would crush them one nation at a time. But alas, _Visser One _and the Council of Thirteen demands for a _secretive _invasion. However it is fortunate that they are such an easy race to infest, and control._ "

" _Humanity may be divided now,_ " the Andalite said, " _but all it takes is a common enemy to unite them. Across the stars I have seen battles, us Andalites against you Parasites. I have gained and lost many comrades… but we will always stand to fight the Yeerks, and so will the humans who now stand beside me! Look around you Visser! These humans you once enslaved, are now fighting your own forces! We realizes that the sacrifices will be heavy… but we will fight on against you, know that a single spark of courage, will ignite the fires of hope, and begin the storm of rebellion._ "

Visser Three's eyes just narrowed. " _You overestimate humanity, and your own race Andalite._ " he said. " _And I have grown tired of speaking to you._ " Then, he began to morph. " _I aquired this body on the fourth moon of a second planet of a dying star. Like it?_ "

* * *

 ** _Jordan's POV_**

* * *

I have always imagined how Visser Three's morph from the first book would really look like. But everything I had ever imagined was a severe understatement compared to seeing the beast with my own two eyes. Growing to over twenty meters in height, towering over all of us. It had eight massive legs the size of tree trunks, eight long three-clawed spindly arms, and growing out of his body were eight almost dragon-looking heads.

For a moment, I was frozen in fear. I had seen the morph he used to devour Elfangor… this made that thing look like a chew toy. I felt so much fear, more so than I had ever felt before. Even the tiger-half of me was confused and worried about this new, unfamiliar foe.

However… I thought of my friends. Not just my friends at home, but the other Animorphs, the friends I've found in Jake, Cassie, Melissa, Marco, Rachel, and Tobias. I have only known them for only a short time, but… they were possibly the best friends I may have ever met. They were the only friends who now, I felt I could fight side-by-side with, and I could trust them with my life if need-be. And I knew I had to do the same for them as well. Although I still felt that familiar fear clutching at my heart… I felt courage as well. Courage to protect my friends, courage to keep them safe, and courage to ensure that we would _all_ make it out alive. And to ensure as many people could escape to be free as well.

" _Jake, everyone, get the hell out of here!_ " I shouted to the other Animorphs and the woman and her team. " _We gotta get out of here, and bring as many people as we can with us! Don't let Visser Three scare you! The bigger they are, the harder they fall!_ "

The other Animorphs were not about to question a chance to get out of there. " _Run!_ " Jake said. " _Everyone! Up the stairs!_ "

" _Yes, run!_ " Visser Three said, as he saw us run up the stairs. " _It makes for more challenging targets!_ "

' _You want a fucking challenge, I'll give you one._ ' I thought, before I looked at the others joining our escape. I saw many humans had already to slip away in the chaos, but most of the Hork-Bajir had been contained with the exception of two riding on Cassie in horseback. With us were about twenty more humans who were making their way to the exit the other Animorphs were heading up. Visser Three wasted no time, as he began lobbing balls of fire at the crowds of running hosts, not caring who got hit even if they were his own controllers.

" _Hey you!_ " I called out, hopping next to the girl I saved and her apparent friends. " _We gotta limit his firepower! Hope you guys found some heavy firepower!_ "

She nodded as she turned to Tony and Vanessa. "Get the rockets out!" she shouted, as the two nodded as they began pulling out what appeared to be RPG-7's - likely looted from a Yeerk Armory somewhere down here.

"Steven, with me! We gotta draw his fire away from them and the runners!"

" _Give us some cover!_ " I said as I began running up the stairs. " _Once we're clear, get the hell out of here! If you do, head for woods to the north, I'll find you there!_ "

She nodded before she glanced at one of her friends, who also nodded and they bolted, splitting up and the humans ran for it. Two more bolted for the closest spot from which to fire, which happened to be a large pile of debris from the excavation of the cavern making for some decent cover as they prepared to fire. Meanwhile the girl and her friend had flanked left, drawing fire away from their two comrades. He brought out his weapon, his Makarov pistol and fired off his last few rounds of ammo. Discarding the now useless weapon, he then picked out his more dangerous M249 SAW Light Machine Gun, and opened fire, as did Jessica with her Dracon Gun.

The distraction was actually working, amazingly. Although he was still lobbing fireballs in my direction with the other evacuee's, out of his eight heads only half of them were firing at us, the other four were directed at the fighters. Although we were losing people, it was not nearly as quickly in the book as we scaled up the stairs as if hell were at our feet - which it pretty much was.

I was also quick to notice some other details about Visser Three's morph. It was scary as hell, yes, but there was a small time delay between each fireball shot out of each individual mouth. It took five whole seconds for it to lob another fireball from the same mouth, but it compensated for that by having multiple heads firing. But with four heads firing in one direction, and four in ours, he couldn't shoot them off as fast or as accurately. A weakness that could be exploited.

However, my focus was on getting out of that hellhole, and making sure these people made it out alive.

* * *

 **Jessica POV**

* * *

 **BGM: "Battle of New York City" Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 OST**

I continued to fire my Dracon Beam at the massive beast that was Visser Three's morph. Things were beginning to get out of hand, as Visser Three began shooting at almost anything that moved, either at the staircase or in our direction. His forces that once were attacking us had now fallen back, to avoid being shot by Visser's fireballs, making it a bit easier for us… now we just had to figure out how to take this damn thing out.

Thankfully, Visser's attention was focused on me, Steven and the Andalites so much, he didn't even see Vanessa and Tony peaking out from behind their cover, raising their respective launchers. Vanessa aimed her RPG and fired a round, which soared forward and hit the creature Visser Three morphed into square on the back.

The blast didn't do too much, the creature's hide taking the bulk of the damage, but it sure as hell gave the Visser a good surprise and it must of hurt at least as all eight of the beasts heads let out a roar of pain. Distracted, Tony took another shot from his launcher, as the 85mm rocket sped forward, and hit one of the eight heads of Visser Three's morph, the blast getting it right into its mouth, quite literally blasting it off, once again causing Visser Three to roar in pain. " _You dare to attack me?!_ " he screamed. " _I will burn you alive!_ "

"Try us!" Vanessa yelled as she fired again, this time hitting the beast square in the torso.

* * *

 ** _Jordan POV_**

* * *

I almost couldn't believe it, but we were almost out.

We were about one hundred steps up, although we had lost all of the Freed Hork-Bajir from Visser Three's blasts of fire, we still had over a dozen humans still with us.

Visser Three was very split, now with only seven heads he could only fire four at the fighters and only three in me and the Animorphs. And the best part was his anger was getting the better of him, and his shots were going more wild, making them less accurate.

Most of the escapees had reached the top floor already with Cassie and Melissa. Now, all that was left was myself, the the human fighters, Jake, Tom, Marco, and Rachel. The latter of which had half-way demorphed from elephant in order to scale the stairs and was ahead of us all.

" _You won't escape me that easily Andalite!_ " Visser Three shouted, as he fired yet another fireball. This one aimed directly ahead of us, missing Rachel who managed to run past the blast, however it now left me, Jake, Marco and Tom trapped between a wall of fire in front of us, and a freak of nature behind us.

"No," a rather familiar voice said. "No, you filthy creep, you aren't going to win this time!"

It was Tom.

He had managed to get out of Marco's grasp somehow, and was not charging at the massive beast Visser Three had turned into, with nothing but his fists. It was a pretty brave thing.

Stupid-Brave that is.

" _You Idiot/Tom!_ " Me and Jake both shouted at him at the same time, but Tom either didn't hear us or just ignored us as he ran towards Visser Three. However Visser Three just raised one of his clawed arms, and swung at him as he knocked Tom away, hitting him against a wall knocking him unconscious.

I then watched as Jake went ballistic, as his Siberian Tiger turned around and dived towards Visser Three, claws outstretched as he landed next to one of the heads, and proceeded to use his tiger claws and teeth to tear its neck out. Roaring in pain, two of his remaining six heads tried to hit Jake, but he managed to jump clear of the first shot which just ended up hitting the head he had just torn up, but the second shot was lucky as he hit Jake's flank before he jumped clear.

Once again, Visser Three was blinded in pain and rage, as he just began firing indiscriminately, roaring in pain while Jake roared in hatred. " _Jake!_ " I shouted. " _Come on, we gotta bail!_ "

Jake let out one final roar before he began running next to me, as we ran up the stairs, most of the others had managed to escape. All that was left were me, Jake and the kid. Just a little bit more and we would all escape this living hell. However I saw one of Visser's fireballs fly towards me, there was no way I could avoid all of it, but I could try to avoid most of it.

I managed to jump into the air, missing the bulk of the fire blast, but my hind left leg, scorching away the fur and skin there.

I've been burned once when I was a kid during the Fourth of July. A firecracker hit the huge pile of fireworks my uncle gathered, setting them all off causing one hell of an explosion. I got a glancing hit from one of the rockets and it hurt like hell, but it wasn't anything permanent. Imagine that, but multiply it by a thousand and you'd likely come pretty close to how bad it felt. It was like being stabbed in the leg by a bunch of burning hot knives.

I let out a loud roar of pain, before I landed back onto the ground. " _Keep going up!_ " I shouted to her. " _Keep running, and don't stop till you reach the top!_ "

I followed, but I was lagging a bit because of my wound. It hurt like hell… but knowing the fact that I may of just saved over a dozen other humans from enslavement made the pain worth it, to me at least. I glanced back, seeing that Visser Three was sending less and less fireballs our way, and was now focusing more on the other team. However other Controllers were beginning to move up the stairs as well. However we were almost out, we were all about to get out alive. Me, Jake, Marco, Cassie, Rachel, Melissa, and even Tobia-

Tobias!

My train of thought came to a screeching halt, with all of the battle and distractions I had completely forgotten about Tobias! I darted my head back once more, scanning the area. Thankfully for my Tiger's eyes I could see a Red-Tailed hawk sitting in the shadows, out of sight from the Visser and the Controllers.

" _Tobias, come on!_ " I shouted. " _We gotta get the hell out of here!_ " Tobias looked at me and nodded, as he began to spread his wings to take off, however the sound of new voices were heard at the stairs and I could see multiple human controllers making their way up the stairs, all of them armed with Dracon Beams.

 **BGM: PHENOMENA by Audiomachine**

" _Go on without me ,_" Tobias said in a surprisingly calm voice. " _I can stay hidden till the coast is clear and sneak out._ "

" _No!_ " I shouted back. I wasn't about to let Tobias become stuck as a hawk like this. " _You have to come with us! You know we have a time limit for morphs!_ "

" _Jordan, what are you waiting for?_ " Jake shouted, him noticing I had fallen behind. " _We gotta go!_ "

" _Tobias is still back there!_ " I shouted back. " _I'm not leaving him dammit!_ "

" _Just go! I'll meet back with you later!_ " Tobias shouted back. " _Please, I'll be fine! They can't see me here!_ "

I wanted to argue, I wanted to save Tobias… but I knew he was right. And I couldn't sacrifice my own life just to keep Tobias from becoming a hawk, as much as I hated it. I turned around, and I began to run with the others. However, my leg wound was not making it easy. I was running as fast as I could, but I was still lagging behind the others, and the Controllers were beginning to catch up.

' _I am_ not _going to die here..._ ' I thought as I tried harder to move. ' _I have too much to do… I can't die yet!_ '

Suddenly, I felt a pair of very large and hairy arms grab me, and began to carry me forward " _Hang on, man,_ " I could hear Marco say. " _You saved my ass from the worms, now I'm returning the favor… just don't turn this into a habit… you need to lay back on the mice, kitty cat._ "

" _Screw… you… Marco..._ " I replied, before adding in " _Thanks..._ " I began to feel a bit woozy suddenly, I guess the wound to my leg did more damage than I thought. Was I losing blood? Things began to get dizzy, and cold, as I couldn't make things out anymore...

* * *

 **Jessica POV**

* * *

I smiled as I saw the Andalites and the others finally vanish up the stairs. Now was our chance to bolt as well. I turned to Vanessa. "Vanessa, get ready! As soon as we bail, blow that thing and seal off this exit!"

She nodded. "Right!"

I turned to face Steven and Tony. "Guys! Retreat now!" I shouted.

The two boys nodded and followed me and Vanessa as we tore outta there like hell was hot on our feet, which it was. I glanced back as the Visser began to follow us as we ran for the stairs. The entrance seemed to get closer, but too slowly for me. I gritted my teeth and poured on some extra muscle power, adrenaline flooding our veins.

The four of us managed to reach the exit as the Visser fired off a final fire blast at us. Vanessa turned and smirked. "See ya, Slugface!" she called as she pressed the detonator.

The explosives that Vanessa had planted during all the confusion were set off, rattling the tunnel as we ran up the stairs to our escape. We managed to run out of the hidden entrance as the blast wave followed us, billowing dust and dirt out as it finally collapsed behind us.

And from there… we kept on running. And we continued to run for a good few minutes as we got as much distance between us and the entrance as we could. I didn't know how much time had passed… but eventually, we did come to a stop as we collapsed to our feet, panting.

"We… we're free..." Vanessa whispered, looking at her hands, capable of moving them freely for what felt like an eternity. "We're… free..."

"I can't believe it… " Tony muttered, falling to his back, panting… before he started to laugh. "We… we made it out… "

"But those people..." Steven muttered, glancing back. "There… there we so many back there..."

"We'll get them too… later," I said resolutely, leaning against a tree as I recovered my breath. "Those… those Andalites… they freed us… so we best do them justice and… kick up the fight again..."

Tony smirked slightly. "Nice to get back in the saddle again..." he mused, sitting back up.

"We lost a lot of gear though..." Vanessa mused. "All our old safe houses… our dead drops… Yeerks must've found them all by now... "

"Right now… we head for the woods," I stated, grabbing their attention as they looked at me confused. "One of the Andalites… he spoke to me… he said to head for the woods to the north… if we can help the Andalites in this fight, they'll be willing to help us. So pick up your stuff… and let's head out."

"Just like the good old days," Steven said, laughing slightly as he stood back up.

* * *

 **117Jorn: And the chapter is DONE! FINALLY! Sorry for the rather long delay, but we had other fics to work on you know.**

 **Titanic X: And as you can see, things are finally heating up! Literally in this case. We'll be sure to try and get the next chappie up sooner, hopefully.**

 **117Jorn: Yeah, and the next chapter? Jordan's big reveal to the Animorphs. So, until next time….**

 **Both: Ja NE!**


	6. Chapter 6

**POV Jordan**

* * *

Cold.

That was what I was feeling when I could feel again, I felt very very cold. My vision was still pretty blurry, I could make out figures, but I couldn't make out who they were. But I could hear what they were saying at least.

"Jordan? Hey, Jordan we're safe. You can turn back now."

"Is he gonna be alright?"

"He might be in shock from the burn he got on his leg."

"Where's Tobias?"

"Jordan, snap out of it! Demorph!"

It was around then I suddenly realized where I was, and what was going on. I could feel the pain in my left leg, still burnt from Visser Three's last attack. But, the fact I could feel the pain was good - it meant I was still alive.

Taking the other's advice, I began to demorph. I began to feel the tiger instincts leaving my mind, and I could feel the pain in my leg begin to fade away as I morphed back, focusing on my good old human self. My eyes began to refocus, as I looked around I could see the other Animorphs gathered around me, looks of concern in their faces.

"Are you okay?" Cassie asked.

I shook my head a bit. "Well, I've got a splitting headache," I said. "And it's probably gonna be worse tomorrow morning… but aside from that, I'm alive, so I'm fine."

"Fine? You tried to take on an army of Controllers by yourself back there!" Marco demanded, "Are you insane or something?"

"You yelled something about Tobias," Rachel said with worry in her voice. "Is he alright? Did he make it out of there?"

I froze for a moment, as the memories returned… the whole battle in full, fighting the Yeerks, Visser Three showing up, retreating, getting shot in the leg… and then seeing Tobias hidden in the corner, unable to escape without being seen.

"...No… he's not..." I said. "He's alive… but he was hidden… somewhere that the Controllers won't find him… but there's no way he's getting out of there within two hours..." My hands balled into fists. "Dammit… he's gonna be trapped as a hawk… it's all my fault dammit!"

"It's not your fault," Cassie said, trying to sound reassuring. "There's nothing you could have done… nothing any of us could of done with those Controllers chasing us."

I shook my head, but I forced out a bitter smile. "Thanks Cass… but no matter what it was my fault… I was the only one who saw Tobias, I didn't keep track of him during the fight… and worse of all… I fucking knew it was gonna happen in the first place."

"How could you have known?" Rachel asked, I caught a bit of suspicion in her voice. "How could you have known what would happen down there?"

"He _did_ know those Taxxons back there were cannibals," Marco pointed out. "I don't think the Andalite mentioned anything about that."

"And didn't you say that weird name to that Controller?" Jake asked. "Something one one seven form a slup nar pool? How did you know that was a Yeerk name?"

"Now that I think about it," Melissa said. "I've never seen you in school… in fact I don't think anyone knows where you live."

"Maybe he's a Controller?" Jake asked. "Like… Like Tom?"

I laughed a bit bitterly "If I were a Controller, which I'm not, I would have had you guys infested a long time ago," I said.

"Then how do you know things are going to happen, _before_ they actually happen?" Rachel demanded.

I let out a long tired sigh, it was time to tell them. "Alright, I will admit I haven't been 100% honest with you," I began. "But I want to make one thing clear: All I want to do is to _help_ you. And a bit of warning… this is gonna sound freaking insane, and crazy."

"Considering all that's happened, we're all ears." Cassie said.

I sighed one more time. "Alright, but this is some weird shit that even I'm not 100% certain about," I said. "The truth is… I'm from a parallel universe much like this one, with earth, the states and all of that… but in my universe, the Animorphs, Yeerks, Andalites and everything you know so far are part of a science fiction book series written by K.A Applegate from the mid 1990's to the early 2000's, and it was all about you. I was a huge fan of the series, and I was brought here to make sure the war ends the _right_ way."

For a few seconds, there was dead silence. Everyone just looked at me as if I just told them I an alien from another world. I sighed once more. "I told you it was crazy."

"Crazy? Oh no, when you put it like that it all makes _perfect_ sense!" Marco said sarcastically. "What, did you escape out of a local nuthouse or something?"

"You're feeling alright, Jordan?" Cassie asked. "You might have suffered brain damage from your injuries."

I shook my head "Thanks Cassie, but Morphing heals all wounds weather your morphing or demorphing," I said. "As long as the damage isn't on a genetic level."

Marco laughed "Do you honestly believe-"

"Marco, your mother's name was Eva, and she went missing almost two years ago, and your father's name is Peter, and works as an electrical engineer," I said suddenly, cutting Marco off, who then looked at me with wide eyes.

"How the hell did you-" He began to say, but I wasn't finished.

"Jake, your father's name is Steve and works as a doctor, and your mother's name is Jean who is a freelance writer. Your brother Tom sometimes calls you midget," I said as Jake seemed to recoil a bit. "Rachel, you're Jake's cousin on his father's side, your dad Dan is a news anchor and your mother Naomi is a lawyer, and you have two sisters, Sara and Jordan. Your parents are divorced. Cassie, both of your parents are Vets, your mom is a great shot with a Tranquilizer Gun while your dad once got sprayed by a skunk. Melissa, your dad is your school vice principal, your mother owns a barbershop, and you have a cat named Fluffer McKitty." I pointed to each one of them as I told them what I knew, each of them looking at me crazily as I told them the info dead-on. "Don't believe me yet? You wanna hear more? I can go into more embarrassing details if you want me too."

The others just stared at me in amazement as I was able to list off those details almost perfectly. I couldn't really blame them actually, I personally was still getting use to believing this myself.

"If… you really are, who you say you are..." Jake began, being the first to recover from the shock. "How did you get here?"

I sighed. "Well, long story short, I can't tell you his name… but let's just call him a super All-Powerful being within time and the universe. It sent me here, wanting to change the future… I can't go into too much details, 'cause of the rules set in place."

"Screw the rules!" Rachel shouted, "You're suppose to be helping us, right? But you can't even tell us how you got here fully!"

"Look, I can tell you _some_ details about the future," I said. "But I can't tell you everything, there is a whole list of things I am not allowed to tell you until the time is right, but if I told you direct information about these events, then I get sent home and all of my time here gets erased."

"Oh, so that's how it is?" Marco sneered. "We all risk our lives, but if something happens to you you can just click your ruby shoes and go home?"

"No," I said shaking my head. "Another rule… if I die here, I cease to exist in my own universe. And after that… that's it. I'm dead."

"So… if you hadn't of demorphed..." Cassie began, and I nodded.

"Yup," I said. "We're in this thing together..." I let out another long sigh. "Look, I know you still probably don't believe me… How about tomorrow we meet at Cassie's barn, and I'll take you all back to my place. I'll tell you what I can there. I promise."

Jake and the others glanced at each other, almost as if having a silent conversation before Jake sighed "Well… I'm not convinced you're not totally crazy," he said. "But… you've helped us out so far, and if you were a Yeerks you probably would have killed us all already. I suppose we can trust you… for now."

I smiled a bit as I nodded. "Thanks Jake," I said. "Right now, I think we should all get moving, you guys have families to go back too."

"Not all of us..." Melissa said barely above a whisper, but I caught it and I remember what happened to her in the Pool.

I winced a bit. "Sorry, I..." I began to say, but Melissa shook her head.

"No, it's okay, " she said. "Just… I don't know where to go now… I can't go home at all now..."

"You can come with me!" Rachel said reassuringly ."I'll just tell my mom you're spending the night-"

"No… I can't..." Melissa said shaking her head. "Rachel, if my fath… if Chapman finds out I'm staying at your place, it will draw attention to you… the last thing I want is to cause trouble for you and your family Rachel."

Rachel looked like she was going to argue, however she knew that Melissa was right. Her staying at Rachel's house could cause more problems than anything. And even then, she would only be able to spend one night there, any longer and Rachel's mother would get suspicious.

An idea hit me and I coughed a bit. "Well… you could… stay with me at my place," I said, causing both Rachel and Melissa to look at me in surprise. "My place is in the mountains… last place the Yeerks would look; it's got tons of space… it's the safest place I know of."

Melissa blinked a bit. "A-are you sure?" she asked. "I mean, I don't want to intrude or anything…"

I shook my head. "Nah, it's alright," I said. "I've got plenty of room, and my house is pretty big, so it's got more than enough room to have one more person live there."

Melissa still looked a bit unsure, however I could see she eventually came the conclusion that she didn't have anywhere else to go, as she sighed. "Well… I guess it would be alright..." she said.

"Melissa, are you sure?" Rachel asked, still looking at me suspiciously. "We still don't know if what he's saying is true..."

"I've got nowhere else to go, Rachel," Melissa said. "Unless you have any idea."

Rachel groaned a bit, before sending a sharp glare at me. "If you try anything funny with her, so help me..." she growled, but I raised my hands in defense.

"Hey! Whoa, don't worry!" I said, waving my hands. "She'll be safe, geez. I'm not gonna try anything 'funny'."

"Good," Rachel said, before she looked in another direction to the left. "But… what do we do about them?"

I blinked before I looked where she was looking, and a short distance away was a group of seven people, humans of varying ages from young too were sitting down being rather quiet, a few of them looking at us.

I realized that they were some of the people who escaped - but I could've sworn we got more of them out. "Why is there only seven?" I asked, "I thought we saved over a dozen at least..."

"We did," Marco said. "But half of the others decided to split after we escaped, and ran off on their own… these seven are the only ones who decided to stick around for now. We have no idea what to do with them."

I looked at the people gathered there, before I let out a small sigh. "I'll take care of them," I said, surprising the others. "Don't worry, like I said… I've got a big house. I can handle having a few people staying there… besides, I have a feeling they stayed because they want to help somehow."

"You sure?" Jake asked. "Won't a column of seven people following you look suspicious?"

"We won't be walking Jake, I've got a truck," I said reassuringly.

Jake sighed once again. "Alright… just remember tomorrow, we meet at Cassie's barn, and you're showing us your house," he said, sending a small glare at me. "If Melissa and those people aren't there..."

"They'll be there, Jake," I said nodding. "And I promise you… tomorrow I will tell you everything I know that I can tell you."

Thankfully, that was enough for Jake, as finally he, Cassie, Marco and Rachel walked away into the forest. I let out a sigh, as I looked at Melissa. "Are you alright Melissa?" I asked,."I know the others probably asked, but… with what happened..."

Melissa looked surprised for some reason before she nodded. "Yeah… yeah I'm fine..." she said. "Just… thank you Jordan… for you, and the others… coming to save me."

I smiled. "You're my friend, Melissa." I said. "I always want to help my friends."

"I know," Melissa said, before her head bowed a bit, as she frowned. "But… my parents..."

I sighed a bit. "I'm sorry," I said. "I would have tried to save them… but they still had Yeerks in their heads..."

"It's alright, but… it's not that..." Melissa said, causing me to blink "You were right, Jordan… what you said… my parents… they still love me after all of this..." I noticed she began to shake a bit, and her eyes slowly began to water up. "After everything I s-said… they still l-loved me… s-so much they… sacrificed their own freedom for me..."

I smiled a bit before I brought Melissa into a small hug, surprising her for a moment. "It's alright, let it out," I said, and Melissa complied as she began to cry in a mixture of sadness and happiness. "I promise you… someday I'll free your parents… both of them." I said.

"I know..." Melissa said, after a moment of silence. "Thanks Jordan..."

"You're welcome," I said before we separated. "Now… let's rally the people here, I parked my truck not to far from here in advance."

* * *

It didn't take us long to reach my house, just a few minutes tops. It was still dark out, as we rolled up the driveway and park.

Once everyone had jumped out, I stepped before them all. "Alright everyone," I said. "This is gonna be your new home for now. There's plenty of living space so you can pick whatever room you want, but please don't argue over who gets what room."

I paused for a moment, looking at them "My name is Jordan, and this is my friend Melissa. I know you must have some questions as to what happens now that you've been freed from the Yeerks. This is where you need to make a choice."

The seven blinked a bit in confusion, but remained silent as I continued. "I know some of you may be scared or even angry for what the Yeerks did too you… some of you may not want to fight anymore, while some of you may want to keep on fighting the Yeerks. I will not force any of you to keep fighting if you do not want too, and you can still stay here for as long as you like." He said. "However… I have very big plans for the future. Specifically to keep humanity safe from the likes of not just the Yeerks, but from _anyone_ who would try to threaten us. Including - if need be - the Andalites."

This bit of information caused everyone - to look at him in surprise. Even Melissa too look at me in shock. "The Andalites?" Melissa asked. "But… Elfangor said that-"

"It will be a long time before the Andalites will send any support, Melissa," I said, shaking my head. " _If_ they send any support. They do not view humans as a priority species, since according to Yeerks we had been labeled as a Class 5 Species, because we're 'easy to infest and invade'."

"The Andalites don't care about - what they believe to be some backwater planet that hasn't achieved FTL". I continued, " This isn't the Andalites war, not here on Earth at least. Here, it's _our_ war. It's _our_ people being captured and enslaved. It's _our_ planet the Yeerks are trying to steal from us. It's _our_ families that are being taken from us. Humanity doesn't need a race of aliens to just come in and do the fighting for us, what it needs is a Cerberus to safeguard the gates of Earth and humanity from threats both domestic and alien who would wish to prevent humanity from reaching its rightful destiny in the stars."

"It's going to be our Job - the Animorphs, and any future allies we make - to _become_ that Cerberus." I said, "Anyone whom we can rally to our cause to free Earth once and for all. And we will show the Yeerks - no, we will show the _galaxy_ the power of the human race. But I will not force any of you to fight with me. So… for those of you who wish to side with us, and the Animorphs… step forward."

It only took a moment, just a moment as the group of seven glanced at one another… and together they stepped forward as one in a single step.

I couldn't help but grin a bit. "Welcome to the Resistance." I said. "Now… let's get you settled in."

Afterwards, I allowed everyone inside the house where I gave them a brief tour of their new home. Showing them the guest rooms, the kitchens, bathrooms, food stores and everything else they needed to know during their stay. It was a quick and simple tour, but after everything they had been through the men and women decided to just call it a night where after the tour and getting their rooms, most of them fell asleep, including a tired Melissa.

Once they were taken care of, I returned outside to hop into the truck. I still had a few things to take care of, namely I wished to make contact with those people who escaped using a different route than the rest of us. Though I also wanted to stop by Melissa's home and see if I could grab some of her valuables to bring back, among other things. So with a turn of the key, the truck started moving once more as I headed out.

* * *

 **Jessica POV**

* * *

I looked back at the pool before I grunted and turned away from it. I had other things to focus on. Such as trying to explain to my parents and sister about the slug in my brain.

The four of us continued on as we resumed walking. "So, now what?" Steven asked.

"We get back to base and start to reestablish ourselves," I said.

"With what? If you don't recall, those slugs _destroyed everything_ we had!" Vanessa screamed. "All our intel, weapons, ammo…"

"Except for my plane…" Steven muttered. "Bad news is it's been missing for some time."

I frowned. "Well, did _anything_ survive?" I asked.

Tony was serious as he shook his head. "No…"

I whirled and punched the closest thing, a bench. I felt blood come out of the cuts I had sustained, but I ignored it. "DAMMIT!" I cried.

While we may have been free, we were now at a serious disadvantage. We basically had to start back from scratch. And as it stood, no one would believe us… and even if they did, we'd just be slugged again, or even wiped out. And that we couldn't do. Not after everything we'd been through to get this far.

The only other option was to try and hunt down this Andalite and his friends, and ask for their assistance. Or offer our knowledge from our time as meat puppets to those slugs. That was something they'd be sure to trade for.

And it was our only chance to gain their help.

My friends seemed to get the idea as well, as Tony finally spoke. "It's our only chance…"

"But where can we find them?" Vanessa asked. "They could be anyone, anywhere…"

"Maybe…" I mused. "But if I remember correctly… they need wide spaces to run around. So all we gotta do is look for that, and maybe we can use our knowledge to cobble something together to pick up one of them… that one Andalite told us to head north to the woods… I think that's our best bet at making contact."

Steven nodded. "As well as countermeasures against being slugged."

"I think Tony and I can come up with something for that," Vanessa said "Though we need supplies to actually pull it off… hopefully these Andalites might be able to give us a hand with that."

I nodded. "Better than nothing. So let's get to it."

My friends nodded and we split up, each with our tasks in mind.

* * *

 **Jordan POV**

* * *

Flying around as a Horned Owl may not be as exciting as a Goshawk, but I'd place it as a close second.

Up around in the night sky, soaring like a shadow as my owl eyes could easily make out my surroundings as if I were wearing night vision goggles. It was surprisingly thrilling, flying without needing thermals to gain air time. Though I had to focus less on the joy of flight at the moment, and more on searching for the others who escaped the pool. The way they fought and coordinated themselves… they looked like they knew what they were doing to an extent, and that kind of experience would be valuable for the Animorphs and the Resistance at large. I had already handled the Chapman issue, now I was focused on locating the escapees.

I was just about finished with my first scan of the area, before I could make out people moving through the forest - four in total. I flew in closer to get a better view…

' _Bingo_ ,' I thought, as I recognized the leader of the group as the same woman from the pool. In had to be sure though, as I began following them through the woods.

* * *

 **Jessica POV**

* * *

I was finally relieved to be out of that ridiculous girly outfit. Of course, having had no choice but to swipe some old clothes from a donation bin was not my idea of shopping for better gear. The outfit I was wearing was currently a green tank top and Bermuda shorts with grease stains on them, and a pair of old hiking boots that somehow fit me. I even nabbed an old brown backpack with a tear on the main pocket that looked as if it had been sewn shut three months ago.

I also happened to...borrow...a pair of scissors from a store before putting them back, after hurriedly cutting my hair so it was somewhat normal, as well as removing the makeup that slug had me wearing. I had the beam gun stowed in one of the shorts pockets, so it was within easy reach.

When I emerged from the brush where I had hidden to change, Steven was hefting his pistol, even though it was out of ammo, keeping watch. "Anything?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No. But I have been getting the feeling like we're being followed…"

I lowered my voice in case any Controllers were within earshot. "One of the Andalites?" I asked softly.

The pilot gave a subtle nod. "Possibly, or that blue freak…" he muttered. "Need to be wary though."

The two of us began walking, seeming as normal as possible given what we had escaped from. My eyes were hard as I gripped the straps for the backpack tightly, and it felt good to be back in control. Some small part of me was still traumatized, but I wasn't suffering from PTSD. That small part was violated at having been stripped of their independence I was so used to. And _that_ was something I did not want to experience ever again.

I gritted my teeth in anger and Steven's hand flew to my shoulder. He squeezed gently and I took in a breath before letting it out. I could get angry at the Yeerks. Not at humans who were uninvolved in this war.

I suddenly perked up, getting a feeling like something was watching us. I glanced up at the sky, my hand flying for the beam gun before I paused, listening.

Steven was silent as well, his eyes flicking left and right as he paused too.

Only an owl flew overhead, its eyes scanning for prey, no doubt. At least at first glance. My eyes narrowed at it, that sensation of being watched growing stronger. "..." I was silent as I observed it circling.

Steven decided to take a chance. He lowered his voice, but enough to reach the owl's hearing. "Are you… one of… the Andalites?" he asked, looking left and right each time with his eyes to keep an eye out for possible Controllers.

"...Who… Who…"

* * *

 **Jordan POV**

* * *

Come on, don't pretend like _you_ wouldn't do that if you were an _owl_.

"Gah… just a stupid owl…" one of the guys groaned, as he turned around.

" _Who. Fuck you. Who."_ I retorted, this time using thought-speak.

 _That_ got the group's attention, as they all froze in their place, and their heads whirled around towards me with eyes just as wide as an owl's.

Trust me, I'd know.

"Was that you?" the woman - maybe the leader? - asked in shock.

" _Oh no, it's one of the_ other _talking owls. Turns out we're an endangered species!_ " I said, rolling my owl eyes. " _Yeah, of course it's me._ "

The woman glanced at her friends and the three got in guarded positions. The woman then stepped forward. "You… We've been looking for you," she said, keeping her eyes locked onto me. "I know it may sound crazy, but…" She sighed. "We need your help. And in a big way…"

" _Well as it just so happens, I've been looking for you too._ " I replied, as I swooped down and landed on the ground. " _One moment, let me get out of this here morph…_ "

And so, I began to demorph - my body shooting upwards as I grew back to my original height, for a brief moment making me look like a giant owl. However soon enough my face began shifting around, giving me back my normal eyes and mouth, and my wings and talons were shifted back into arms and legs. And soon after, my feathers receded back into my skin, revealing my normal skin and my tight-fitting morphsuit. Before long, there I was - standing before four rather awestruck humans.

"Wait…" one of the men muttered. "Y-you're human?"

"What? Expecting the Easter Bunny?" I asked with a small smirk.

"I thought you were an Andalite," the woman said seriously. "You mean to tell me you were a human all along?"

"Pretty much," I shrugged, "It's Visser Three who jumped the shark and assumed we were Andalites… rightfully so though, since as far as he knows, only Andalites have access to morphing technology… but no, I am 100% bonafide human."

"That's something he won't expect," the blonde woman muttered. "That aside though, we're in serious trouble."

"I can only imagine," I said, as I sat down on the dirt. "Though before we go further, may as well get introductions out of the way… *ahem*, Hi, I'm Jordan, member of the Animorphs - and before you ask, it's short for Animal Morphers. It's what we call ourselves now."

"Ah… well, my name is Jessica," the leader said, gesturing to herself before pointing to the others. "That is Vanessa, Steven, and Tony… And as for who we are… well, it's a long story."

"I've got time," I said, gesturing towards them. "Hit me."

Jessica took a deep breath, nodding. "Well… it began when one of our classmates in our school came to us… " she began. "She… revealed that she was a controller… her Yeerk apparently grew a conscience, seeing what it was doing was wrong… it died to let her go free, and warn us." Her fists clenched, clearly recalling the events quite clearly. "Ever since then we've… we've dedicated ourselves to fighting the Yeerks… fighting as hard as we could with what we had… we were able to put up a heck of a fight, usual guerilla warfare tactics… we were fighting them for nearly a year until… two weeks ago… "

I remained silence, simply nodding as I allowed Jessica to tell her and her friends history.

"Two weeks ago… they found us out… " she said. "They… attacked our home… they… they killed one of us… and we lost everything… our gear, finances, safe houses, dead drops...it was all… gone..." she hissed, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists. "All because of those damned slugs!"

I kept silent as she told her tale, though I admit I was fairly surprised. This clearly had to be another one of the 'changes' the Ellimist had mentioned, since as far as I knew the Animorphs were among the only people who knew about the Yeerks - excluding the people on the chat room of Web Access America of course.

And this was something I could take advantage of.

Once she was done talking, I broke my silence. "I'm sorry about your losses," I said. "I know you've must have gone through hell with those Yeerks inside your heads… so let me ask you one thing… are you ready for Round Two?"

Jessica and her friends all blinked. "Round… Two?" she asked.

"Well… I assume being slugged shows just how sinister the Yeerks can be," I stated. "And you must have seen some Yeerk secrets and memorized them at some point… so… how do you feel about getting back up..." I smirked. "...and teach the damn Yeerk Empire they could _not_ have picked a worse enemy than the human race, eh?"

Jessica was silent, but then she snarled. "I'd give anything to show them a thing or two… show them how hard we humans can fight!" However then she sighed. "But without proper gear and whatnot, we're basically hobos. And as it stands…" She shrugged. "We've got secrets they'd kill to get back from us."

Steven had a sinister glint in his eyes. "I know what powers those Bug fighters of theirs," he hissed.

Tony was silent before he spoke. "I got a thing or two from my slug about how they've got finances for their Sharing ops. We could disrupt that."

Jessica however seemed to have something else in mind. "I happened to memorize mostly weapons stuff. My slug was a weapons expert." She pulled out the Dracon beam. "I was thinking of reverse engineering these… make better versions."

Vanessa nodded. "That's something we could surely use."

"So… that's what we got," Jessica said, shrugging.

I rose my brow at that - now _that_ was some good knowledge to have. Disrupting Sharing ops would be beneficial, and someone who knew how Yeerk Fighters were powered could be a huge help later on. And a weapons expert? Now _that_ would be helpful.

How could I _not_ bring them into the fold?

"I think..." I began, standing back up as I approached. "That this will be the beginning… of a _wonderful_ relationship..." I stuck my hand out. "Welcome back to the Resistance."

She nodded and took my offered hand. "Good to be back," she said, with a small smile. "God knows we could use some gear and whatnot. But the biggest concern is that we need finances… Everything we had was spent by those slugs. And my family was… convinced I was undergoing a phase when I was into wearing jeans and stuff." She sighed. "How am I supposed to tell them that it wasn't me, but a slug?"

"Finances will not be an issue for you, or your team," I informed, causing them to blink. "Let's just say I've got enough cash to fund our efforts against the Yeerks for quite a while… " I then glanced at them. "Do all of you still have family?"

They all nodded.

"Hmmm… well, I might be able to help with that," I mused, as I entered thinking mode. "If you four are free, the Yeerks will likely be keeping an eye on your families to see if you try and approach them… I'll have someone keep an eye on them in a few days, and try and figure out a way to get them out of harm's way without tipping the slugs off."

"What about convincing them that it wasn't me, but a slug they were talking to?" Jessica asked. "I _have_ to tell them the truth about that."

"Well, watching someone shapeshift into animals before their very eyes might grab their attention," I said, "And if you can believe in shapeshifting people, I think brain-stealing slugs would be much easier to digest."

Tony looked at her and nodded. "He's got a point."

Jessica was silent for a moment, then nodded. "All right."

Vanessa then piped up. "What about a base?" she asked. "Our other one was compromised and left in ruins."

"Relax, I've got it all covered," I reasoned. "I've got a big house in the mountains - nice, isolated and at a place the Yeerks will never find for a good while." I turned around. "Come on, I parked my truck not too far from here. It'll be a bit of a squeeze but it's better than walking."

They all nodded and we soon were on our way. As we walked towards my ride, I felt a bit of confidence grow within myself… maybe, just maybe… we could actually pull this crazy thing off after all…

* * *

 **The next day, Melissa's POV**

* * *

I woke up still feeling a bit tired and groggy, not really uncommon for most people I guess. I blinked my eyes a few times before I sat up in my bed, brushing my hair out of my face. I shook my head a bit before I glanced around my room.

For a split second I froze, this wasn't my room, and it didn't look like my house at all. At first I was scared…. but then the memories of last night returned to me. Going home, my parents snatching me, dragging me kicking and screaming to the Yeerk Pool...and watching as they fought their own Yeerks… telling me to run.

When the memories hit me, my eyes widened slightly before I curled up into a ball in my bed. I didn't really know what to feel… for a while, I've been thinking my parents hated me, that they didn't love me anymore… but now, it's the exact opposite. They loved me so much they sacrificed their own freedom to keep me safe and free.

I wanted to cry, but… I couldn't. I just… didn't know what to do. However suddenly the door to my room knocked, causing me to jump a bit. "Yo, Melissa?" A voice said, as I recognized it as Jordan's. "You awake? I've got something I need to show you."

I nodded a bit before I spoke. "Yeah, yeah hang on," I said as I got out of bed - I was so tired that I forgot to take the clothes I was wearing the night before off so I didn't have to worry about that yet. I walked up to the door, and opened it. Standing there was Jordan, but he was holding…

"Meow!"

I blinked in surprise as something seemed to jump on me and into my arms for a moment, I barely reacted in time as I caught it and looked at what I now held. My eyes then widened in shock, as I saw a white and grey cat in my arms. "F-Fluffer?" I asked in shock. "H-how... what?"

I heard Jordan chuckle a bit as I looked up, he was smiling. "Last night I went to your house," he said. "I thought I'd get the little guy, bring him here so you can have something from home here with you. Trust me, it was not easy… slashed me a few good times."

I looked in shock at my cat Fluffer, before I looked up at Jordan… before I knew what I was doing, I suddenly just hugged him, as Fluffer jumped out of my arms to avoid being squished. "Thank you! Thank you so much!" I said. I felt so happy at that moment. "This means so much! Thank you!"

"Y-You're welcome… Melissa," Jordan said, sounding a bit nervous. "Y-You can… let go now..."

I looked up as I saw how nervous Jordan seemed to look, glancing away a bit. I didn't see why he seemed so nervous… however I started to feel a bit nervous myself before I let go. "R-Right, sorry," I said. "So… what are we doing today?"

"Well… it's best you stay here until things cool down a bit," Jordan said. "You're all over the news - everyone is saying you've been abducted and stuff like that. They've got people searching high and low for you. I'd give it a few weeks - maybe a month until it's safe for you to go out… and even then I suggest you dye your hair, and find other ways to disguise yourself…when you're not in morph."

I nodded, knowing he had a good point - as much as I hated it. "Alright..." I said. "But… what do we do then?"

"Well, you could use the day to get use to the house," Jordan suggested with a shrug. "We gotta wait for Jake and the others to get out of school so I can… explain to them the things I know."

I didn't understand what he meant at first, however I soon recalled what he told us about last night - about our world… being in a fictional book series… that sounds crazy even when I'm thinking it, but after what he said… knowing about our personal lives…

"Yeah..." I said nodding. "But, I guess I could give this place a look around… try and get to know the others here..."

Jordan smiled and nodded. "That's the spirit," he said, "Go ahead and look around - If ya need me, I'll be in the living room." With that said, he turned around and left - leaving me alone before I myself turned around and headed down the halls - wanting to check up on some of the people we rescued.

* * *

 **Jordan's POV**

* * *

"Glad you guys made it," I said as the Animorphs finally arrived at the barn. Tobias wasn't with them, so I assumed he was providing overwatch. Considering the bombshell I dropped on them yesterday I wouldn't blame e'm. "Took you long enough."

"Well, we have to actually go to school, you know?" Rachel said, sounding a bit annoyed. "They don't have schools where you're from?"

"Plenty, but I graduated awhile ago." I said with a smirk, "Even if I didn't I doubt I'd _have_ to go to school considering I'm not enrolled anywhere here."

"Okay, I'm officially jealous." Marco said.

"Yup, pretty much makes up for being stuck in an alternate universe." I replied. "Got plenty of stuff to keep me occupied between missions… 'course it was starting to get a bit lonely over there until recently. Anyways, we'd best get walking - my place is a fair walk away." I turned around and headed into the forest with the others following close behind.

"You live in the woods?" Jake asked.

"Of course, he's Tarzan." Marco muttered.

"Says the guy with the Gorilla morph." I retorted with a sly smirk.

"Tigers live in forests too." Cassie pointed out.

"Yeah, in India and other Southeast Asian countries." I replied. "Tiger would stick out like a sore thumb here, plus there wouldn't be enough sufficient prey for them here… Mountain Lions on the other hand probably could."

"You know your animals." Cassie complemented.

"Ah, I picked up some things when I was reading the Animorph books," I said. "They always went into great detail about the different animals you guys morphed into, so I looked into them to see what's true and what's not."

"So… we're really just a book series where your from?" Rachel asked.

"Yes, but not just that." I replied. "When your books were released, you had a massive fan base, and still do today with dozens of online forums - which I am part of. Hell you guys even got your own toy line and a T.V series and video games."

"Wait, wait - back up." Marco said. "T.V series? Someone made us into T.V stars?"

"Pretty much," I said. "The show itself wasn't that ground breaking, the animation for the morphing effects weren't THAT good, and the trained animals weren't that threatening. Though there were a few episodes that were interesting plot-wise, and the acting was okay… though the books were definitely superior."

"Hey, I'm a T.V. star. I'm cool with that." Marco said with a grin.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "We're still just fictional characters to you..." she said, however I shook my head.

"No Rachel, that mindset died the moment I came here." I said, "That may be the case for others in my universe, but I've seen you - I've _met_ you, and I've fought side by side with you. You're not a bunch of book characters to me anymore. You are as real as anything else in our respective universes." I then chuckled a bit sheepishly. "Though… I will admit it's like a dream come true… your books are what got me started reading, and writing. Your stories have been inspiration for my own work since I was in fifth grade. Of course the mind-stealing alien slugs sorta ruins the experience somewhat."

"Obviously." Marco said.

"How much further to your place?" Jake asked.

"Not much further," I said. "Though it can be easy to miss unless... " I began to feel my eyes drifting away from the direction we were going. "Ah, we're almost there. Just follow me, and keep your eyes forward. They'll start to move away from the direction we're going, but it's a trick to keep others from finding my home."

"What is this, some kind of Jedi mind trick?" Marco asked. "Cloaking tech?"

"God I wish," I said with a light chuckle. "It would be a lot better, but this works just as fine." It took us a few minutes more, until finally we had reached my house in all of its glory.

"Nice place," Marco said, "Seems a bit big for one person though."

"I'd agree, though recently I haven't been living alone." I said, "Melissa's here, along with the people we rescued from the Yeerks last night. And with the perception filter, it'll make it VERY difficult for the Yeerks to find us here."

"The what?" Jake asked.

"It's a thing from this show called Doctor Who." I said, shrugging. "I honestly couldn't think of a better name for the effect the area gives you. Come on, the others are waiting, and I'd gamble you want some more proof than this."

I lead the others inside the house, as we entered the living room. "You _might_ want to hire a decorator..." Rachel said, as she eyed the rather empty and uncolored interior.

"I would, but I can't risk this place being located by Human-Controllers." I replied. "As we've established, they could be anyone, even decorators. If the Yeerks find out we're humans and not Andalites, this place makes an ideal fall-back position for you and your families. It's difficult for anyone to find unless you know exactly where to look."

The others all blinked at that. "Wow you… thought this out." Cassie said.

"Sooner or later the Yeerks will find the truth, preferably later than sooner." I said. "I'm just trying to focus on the long term just as much as I focus on the short term." I then chuckled a bit "Though, if you're volunteering to help me paint the walls, by all means I'll buy the paint. I'd take me centuries to paint the whole damn house by myself."

"I think I'll pass." Rachel said.

"Worth a shot." I said shrugging. "Well Melissa's waiting in my room, we'll go over the details there."

The five of us left the living room, and entered my bedroom where Melissa waited with her Cat. "Hey guys!" Melissa said as she sat up. "Wait… where's… Tobias?"

"He's… around." Jake said as he sighed. "He'll be here soon."

"In other words he's here right now, he's just listening in." I retorted as I opened a window. "Tobias, I know you're out there. Come on in. It's cold out there you know."

I didn't have to wait long, as a few moments later a Red-Tailed hawk came flying down to the window, landing on the bed. " _Hey Jordan._ " He said via thought-speak.

"Tobias." I replied nodding. "So… how much has Jake told you?"

" _Some weird things about you knowing us through a book series._ " Tobias said, " _Kinda confused on that… think you could clear up the blanks?_ "

"Will do. Come on inside." I said as I moved towards the tiger poster in my room - taking it down for a moment, revealing the large safe behind it.

"The heck are you keeping in that thing?" Marco asked, as I chuckled.

"The truth." I said, before I put my hand on the palm scanner, as well as going through the other various security measures the Ellimist had installed to the safe. After a minute, _finally_ there was a metallic _CLINK_ as the safe door came loose, as I opened it up. He reached for his copy of Animorphs #1, and pulled it out for all of the others to see. "Ta da."

The others gasped in surprise at the book. "That guy… on the cover..." Marco muttered. "Looks just like Jake."

"And the lizard looks like the one you morphed into..." Cassie commented, as I nodded.

"That's because it is." I informed as I flicked through the pages. "This is Animorphs #1: The Invasion. It covers the details of you encountering Elfangor, and ending with your group escaping the Yeerk Pool in our last fight. Each story is told in a first person perspective, in this one's case - it's in Jake's."

"Must be _very_ poorly written then," Marco said, as Jake playfully jabbed his friend in the arm.

" _So its true..._ " Tobias muttered. " _Can we… read them?_ "

"This one here? Yes, since we've gone over its events already." I said as I tossed it at Jake, who caught it. "I can't let your read any of the future ones, one of the rules." Rachel looked angry and was about to say something before I raised my hand. "I know, Rachel, it's bullshit. But if I tell you anything I'm not suppose to, I get sent back to my universe, and everything I've done gets erased. I have a lot of work to do here, and I promise you all right now, I will do everything in my power to make sure we _all_ survive this shitstorm in one piece… I just ask that you all trust me on this."

The others all glanced at one another, almost as if they were talking to one another in private thought speak (which they couldn't since they weren't in morph obviously), before they all nodded. "It's crazy, but… you haven't given us a reason _not_ to trust you." Jake said, looking at the book. "If anything, you're giving _us_ an awful lot of trust."

I sighed before I smiled, "Thanks, guys..." I said, "I trust you because… well, I've read the books. I don't have a single reason _not_ to trust any of you."

"So… what _can_ you tell us about the books?" Melissa asked after a moment of silence.

"Well… like I said earlier, a lot has already changed compared to what happened in the first book." I said. "Most notably… you."

Melissa, and the others, all blinked at that. "E-Excuse me?" she asked, sounding a bit stunned.

"Yeah… in Animorphs canon, you were never an Animorph… you only made a few cameo's in some of the books, most notably during book 2." I explained. "You living with your parents, and Rachel morphing your cat to find out more intel on the Yeerks through your Father, by listening in on his communications with Visser Three. You being an Animorph… well, that changes a few things on its own."

"So… what does that mean for what happens in Book 2 then?" Rachel asked.

I smirked a bit at that. "Taken care of," I said. "Just last night I visited Chapman's house, and I bugged his phones, and put wires across his house to listen in on any conversations he or his wife have. Now that Melissa obviously won't be there, they will be more open about the Yeerk Invasion, and talk about it more openly. It's not much, but it'll do until I can figure out a safer way to get into the hidden room in there, and plant a bug there to get the REALLY juicy stuff… plus I used the time to bring as much of Melissa's stuff from her house over here, including her cat."

"Which, again, I am grateful for." Melissa said with a smile.

"So… aside from that, what else can you tell us?" Marco asked. "Did we have any other changes aside from that? Cause it doesn't mean-"

"You were only gonna save one." I said, interrupting Marco mid-sentence. "In the book, you guys only saved one controller from the Yeerks… but I ask you now, how many did we save this time? We saved _over a dozen_ people… that's over twelve people free from the Yeerks. It may seem small, but compared to how many you _would've_ gotten..."

There was another short silence, as the Animorphs all took that information in. "So… we can make a difference?" Cassie asked, as I nodded.

"Yes." I said. "It won't be easy… but between you, me and some of the people we freed who want to stick around… we stand a fighting chance against the Yeerks..." I then grinned a bit as I reached into the safe. "Plus… we have _this_."

I then pulled out the Morphing Cube itself, as the others all gasped in shock at the sight of the Andalite's Gift. "Is… that..." Jake muttered, as I nodded.

"Yup." I assured with a face-splitting grin. "Elfangor gave it to me before we left… he said the Yeerks didn't have Morphing tech, so I thought it best to bring this with us to keep it that way… plus, who knows? In the future, we could recruit more to our cause, and build our numbers as Animorphs. An entire army of morph-capable humans or 'Andalite Bandits'? The Yeerks will be soiling their pants in no time."

"Like I said… you thought _everything_ out..." Cassie said, as I grinned once more.

"I'm trying to be the real life equivalent to Batman," I said. "I've got contingencies for my contingencies. I hope given enough time, I can plan out _anything_ the Yeerks can throw at us, whether it's in the books or not." I then shrugged "Plus we can avoid what happens in Books 20, 21, and 22."

"...what happen in those?" Rachel asked.

"Oh, some random kid named David finds the Cube in the construction site a while after book 1." I explained - free to explain David since he won't be a problem anymore. "He tries to sell it online, but you guys try to stop him, and the Yeerks come around to steal the box. You guys recruit him as an Animorph… though he kinda goes crazy by book 21."

"Crazy?" Cassie asked.

"He chafed under your authority, resenting you guys for getting his parents infested and ruining his otherwise normal life." I explained, "Forced to live in Cassie's barn and forbidden to go out in public as himself, David began using his morphing power to achieve the illusion of normal life again, even if it meant committing crimes in the process. He eventually went full Renegade when he attacked a red-tailed hawk thinking it was Tobias, killing it - then nearly killing Jake in a battle."

Everyone all winced at the thought of that, as Rachel looked at Tobias in concern - as did Cassie with Jake. "Did… we beat him?" Marco asked.

"Oh yeah - you tricked him into being stuck a white rat for the rest of his life." I said, "But like I said, he is no longer an issue. _We_ have the Morphing Cube. And we'll only use it for people who want the power, and _want_ to fight the Yeerks. I'll make sure we don't bring in any future Davids."

"That's good to know..." Jake muttered.

"So… what's your world like?" Marco asked.

"Oh, it's the year 2307 and we've colonized Mars and build giant city-sized space colonies." I said calmly with a straight face. "And we've made first contact with aliens from Mars as well."

I kept my straight face on for as long as I could… but it didn't last long seeing their incredulous looks before I started snickering, before laughing out loud, to which the others joined in soon after.

"Oh shit, the looks on your faces!" I said, still laughing.

 _"I admit… had me going for a sec..._ " Tobias said. " _Seriously though, what_ is _your world like?_ "

"Okay, okay." I said, after getting the giggles out. "To be honest, the world isn't too different from here… only it's the 2000's back where I'm from, we're actually closing in on 2020."

"Are you messing with us now?" Rachel asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No no no! Dead serious here!" I assured them, "Unfortunately we lack any Back-to-the-future Hoverboards or stuff like that… yet. Though we've got awesome games… and we've _finally_ left the dark age of summer movies."

"Thank god for that." Marco said. "What kind of movies can we expect?"

At that, I gave Marco a smirk as I reached under my bed, and pulled out three movies in particular. "How about… Star Wars Episodes I… II… _and_ III." I said, as I revealed the three DVD disks before him.

While Cassie and Rachel didn't seem all to interested… it was Marco and Jake's reactions that brought a smirk to my face as they eyed the DVD's with wide eyes of disbelief, as if they were just offered a ton of gold blocks - even Melissa had an incredulous look on her face. "Holy..." Marco muttered.

"Yup." I said grinning. "You can see the Prequel trilogy _years_ before anyone else - though I do warn you though, it's not that good…but thankfully… they redeem themselves with this…" I then pulled out two more DVD's - Star Wars Episode VII and Rogue One, as their eyes widened even _further_. "… and that's just Star Wars - I've got the reboot to Star Trek, and _dozens_ of other movies that haven't even been _written_ yet… and that's not even _including_ 21st century video games _including_ VR Games."

"...you are my new favorite person..." Marco said, half-joking, and half-serious, as Jake nodded, and I laughed.

* * *

For the next few hours, I really just talked with the other Animorphs, telling them about the 21st century and all of the wonders it brought, as well as a bit more detail as to my own personal life. It was… a different experience to say the least. It was kinda like talking to celebrities that you always wanted to meet, but never thought you would in your life. It felt… surprisingly good.

After just hanging out (and introducing Jake and Marco to 21st Century gaming), eventually they had to go back home, as they said their goodbyes, leaving just me, Melissa and Tobias. Once they were gone though, I turned my gaze towards the red-tailed hawk. "Tobias…" I said. "I… I'm so sorry…"

Tobias was silent for a few moment, before his hawk head shook. " _It's not your fault, Jordan._ "

"It _is_ my damned fault…" I muttered, sagging down into my chair. "I came here to _help_ you guys… help _you._ I wanted to stop you from being stuck in morph! I wanted you to keep having a normal fucking life! Not… stuck as a hawk! And now look, you're stuck as a hawk! I… I didn't want this to happen!"

" _According to you, it would've happened even if you weren't here._ " Tobias replied, " _So you can't blame yourself… maybe it's just something that_ had _to happen?_ "

I let out a bitter chuckle, shaking my head "Tobias… I am not a believer of things like Fate or Destiny," I informed. "I know it sounds stupid considering what I've shown you guys… but I abhor the idea that we are not in control of our lives, that we're set on some predetermined path like a railroad train from point A to point B… the only Destiny I believe in, is the one _we_ create for ourselves… to imagine a goal, and to strive to achieve that goal through our own free will."

My head bowed slightly, as I rubbed my eyes "I should've been more mindful of where you were… " I said. "So it _is_ my fault for causing… _this_ … why the hell aren't you more mad at me?"

Tobias was silent for a few moments, his hawk body's head twitching upwards as if gazing towards the stars. " _I'm not that big a believer of that kind of stuff either..._ " He began, " _But what I do believe in…_ " He turned his head towards me. " _Is that you would've helped me if you had the chance… we've only known eachother for a few days, and you've been the closest thing I've had to a true best friend I could have ever asked for, Jordan. I don't want to ruin it because of a grudge… besides,_ " He stretched out his wings, letting out a short Hawk cry " _There are worse things to be stuck as!_ "

"Jordan..." Melissa spoke up, grabbing his attention. "You… you tried your best, that's all we could ever ask from you. The past is the past now… all we can hope for now is to make things better for the future… right?"

I laughed slightly at that "Yeah… I suppose you're right..." I mused, glancing down at the book. "I.. I will find a way to get you back to normal, Tobias… you have my word."

" _Don't worry about it,_ " The Hawk-boy said, his wings moving in a way which almost made it look like he was shrugging. " _You've already shown that we_ can _change things… you said it yourself, we would've only saved one, now look how many we've saved. I think we can safely say we've kicked Fate right in the nads last night._ "

"True..." I nodded, "I just hope it doesn't decide to kick back… "

"As long as you and Jake are running things, I think we'll be fine." Melissa said, smiling. "Especially with your… let's say _background_ … "

I nodded at that "Yeah… we can only hope..." I said, glancing out the window, looking towards the stars above - knowing full and well that somewhere out there in that ceaseless cosmos, the Andalites and Yeerks were going at it full-force. "Elfangor's sacrifice will not be in vain… we'll make sure of it."

" _For Elfangor._ " Tobias declared, nodding.

"For Elfangor." Melissa agreed with her own nodd.

"For Elfangor…and Humanity."

* * *

 **117Jorn: And there you have it folks… Chapter 6 of Retaliation, and the end of the events of Book 1. And I can assure you that next chapter will be a bit… _different_. How so? Well you'll just have to wait to find out. So, until then… Ja ne!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Jordan POV**

* * *

"So… you trust this guy, right?"

Jessica nodded, as she rode shotgun in the truck - with the rest of her team in the back. "Yeah, we trust him," she informed. "When we were slugged, the Yeerks in our heads taunted about how they disassembled our operations, about how they found our allies… he is the one person they never gloated about."

"Probably because he never knew about _why_ we needed the weapons," Tony informed. "For him, it was just business - he didn't ask questions at all. Just another arms deal."

I nodded slightly as I continued to drive the truck towards a series of docks at night. It had been roughly over a week since the raid down in the Yeerk Pool, and since Book 2's events were effectively non-existent now with Melissa back at their base in the woods, this opened up his schedule for some other forms of preparations for their little war against the Yeerks.

Stage one: Getting several metric fucktons of guns and ammo.

Was morphing a powerful tool? Undoubtedly, the ability to shapeshift into various animals was very helpful, especially for surveillance and other covert actions… though considering their arsenal of animals was limited to what Earth had in stock, while Visser Three had access to literally any alien species in the _galaxy_ at his fingertips, some which could fire acid, self-generating spears and fireballs, having a few heavier weapons around certainly wouldn't hurt.

While I _could_ go through the legal process of getting guns, I feared that the purchasing of such a massive amount of firepower would not go unnoticed by the Yeerks - as well as the U.S government and I didn't want to answer FBI and/or CIA questions asking about why we needed assault rifles, shotguns, snipers and rocket launchers. It would be an… _awkward_ situation.

But as luck would have it, Jessica's team had that covered via an Arms Dealer they did business with. She was vague as to how the two met, but she assured me that if I wanted to get guns fast, this was the best way to do it. So we rented a moving van, and there we were traveling to a nearby dock at night.

The docks were close to quiet, and Jessica's eyes were hard as she scanned left and right. "C'mon…" she muttered. "Where is he?"

"Pulling up now..." I said, as the truck drove up the pier, before coming to a halt as I put on the parking brake. Me and Jessica jumped out of the truck, as we walked in front of the vehicle.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite customer!" a voice shouted, and I immediately tensed, my hand flying towards my Mk-23, however Jessica put a hand on my shoulder, warning me to chill.

"Tristan Kito..." she called out, "Been a while… mind coming out here for a face-to-face?"

A few moments passed, before behind a set of crates a single man appeared, wearing a black trench coat and matching black pants and hat, wearing a pair of glasses. He didn't appear to be a very large man, yet not exactly skinny either. "Well, it's good to see you missy," he spoke with a thick accent - Russian? German? I couldn't exactly tell. "It's been so long… usually you always drop by every month..."

"Let's just say I was… distracted," Jessica replied.

"Hm… new associate of yours?" Tristan asked, gesturing towards me. "A bit trigger-happy, isn't he?"

I narrowed my eyes slightly "Just cautious with people I don't know." I stated.

"Ah, but I'm _best friends_ with little old Jessie here," The man said, with a laugh. "Been doing her business for a good while now… don't know _why_ she wants this firepower, but hell if she pays for it, she'll get it… " He reached into his pocket, pulling out some note. "Though… will admit, this is a bit excessive for you, missy… I don't think you can afford all of this… "

"We can afford it," Jessica stated, "Let's just say we… got a raise. So do you have it or not?"

Tristan glanced between the two of them for a moment, before shrugging as he let out a sharp whistle - and over by the docks, there was a commercial mid-sized fishing trawler, however it was missing any indicators of being a fishing boat - especially as men wielding rifles made their presence known standing on the sides - several other men began manning a crane on the boat, moving a crate off board and onto the dock where a cart caught it.

The man behind the cart then pushed it towards them, as the boat began offloading several more crates. When the cart reached them, Tristan rose his hand, gesturing him to stop. Once he did, he pulled open the lid to the crate - revealing within it multiple weapons and belts of ammunition within. "Pistols, Rifles, Automatics, Shotguns, explosives, launchers, and ammo to go with it..." Tristan mused, picking up one of the bullets to inspect it. "I am almost tempted to ask what you plan to do with all of this, Miss… taking on Fort Knox?"

"Maybe we are, maybe we aren't." Jessica informed with a pointed glare. "What we do with them is none of your business."

"Of course," The Arms Dealer said, bowing slightly as he tossed the bullet back into the crate. "Just legitimate business, am I right? Now… I sincerely hope you hold up your end of the bargain."

Jessica glanced at me, and I knew what she wanted - I walked back towards the truck, pulling out a silver briefcase. I entered the code, unlocking it, revealing the lines of 100's lined within. "100 Million, cash - unmarked." He informed, "Plus a bonus 10 Million to ensure our continued… partnership and dealings in advance."

Tristan actually appeared visually surprised, nearly gawking at the sight of so much cash. "My my, missy," He said, as a smirk formed up. "You certainly have moved up in the world… "

"I just made a new friend is all," She shrugged. "So, we solid?"

"But of course," Tristan nodded, waving his hands forward as the man pushed the card towards the van - soon followed by more men with crates. Jessica banged on the front of the van, as the others inside opened the rear hatch to allow the gear inside. "Hm… you must have some very deep pockets, Mr…?"

"My name is Jordan," I informed simply, "Just Jordan."

"Ohhh, mysterious." The man chuckled, as he accepted the briefcase. "Well then Mr. Jordan, I most certainly look forward to doing business with you in the future."

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Kito." I informed, keeping a neutral expression. Personally I didn't like this one bit - I've seen Arms Dealers in movies, so I know this guy in all likelihood sold weapons to people all around the world - Africa, Lebanon, Syria, or wherever else there was a raging warzone. He likely had just as much blood as a Yeerk would.

But… in order to prepare for the worst, you had to make a compromise or two. I hoped this would be as far as it would go… but I didn't count on it.

"Oh please, Mr. Jordan," the man laughed, sticking out his hand. "Call me Tristan."

I bit my tongue, as I reached out my hand and shook hands with the merchant of death. I could already tell that this was going to be the beginning of a rather… _unique_ relationship.

* * *

"I've never seen so many guns..." Tony muttered, with a hint of awe in his voice as we offloaded the weapons from the van - several crates open revealing the various weapons within, raging from Warsaw Pact to NATO-built.

"It's what happens when you got big pockets," I said, smirking as I pushed out another crate full of ammo. "You can afford the big guns. We'll get this squared away down in the basement, then I'll be off to The Home Depot."

"Huh?" Vanessa asked, looking at him confused "Why you going there?"

"Well, with all this help around, I'd like to start expanding the base a bit." I reasoned. "At the very least I'd like to get enough supplies to build a nice firing range. Maybe freshen up my aim."

"You used guns before?" Steven asked, sounding surprised.

"A bit," I informed with a short shrug. "My brother was big on hunting and that kind of stuff, so he'd take me down to the firing range and I'd test out their guns. Gotta keep our skills sharp, right?"

"How much are you planning on expanding the base?" Jessica asked.

"As much as I can, and then some." I started, opening one of the crates, picking up an M14 Battle Rifle from the case. "Anything to keep us prepared... Plus I've got a few more things to take care of."

"Like what?" Steven asked.

"Let's just say it's classified right now," I replied, internally sighing. I didn't want to hide the truth of what I knew to the other people living here - I really didn't, but I had to be safe. If they were to get caught again, they'd know the future of the series _and_ their base location, and I couldn't take that risk. It was risky enough to show them here to begin with. "But trust me - it will make life much easier for us."

The group looked at one another and frowned, but nodded, preferring to defer to me for now. "So… I was thinking…" Steven spoke up suddenly, "For future weapons… Well… I hate to say it, but I think we may need something for tangling with the Visser if these don't work. Something that his morphs would be hardpressed for, Because face it… we've seen two or three from the memories of those slugs."

"And one of them… I don't know it's name, but it's able to swallow an entire boat…" Vanessa admitted.

"I agree actually." I nodded. "The morphs the others have are useful, but not exactly ideal for taking on the more… _wild_ of morphs."

"Like that boat eater…" Vanessa whispered.

"Among others, yes," I confirmed. "So, hopefully next time we fight the blue bastard we'll have some worthwhile firepower to throw at him."

The group seemed to agree with the plan, as the front door to the house opened as Melissa stepped out.

"Hey Jordan," She said, "Where were you? I was gonna ask-" she stopped in her tracks though as she looked around, and noticed the _massive_ amount of weapons around. "...abuh?"

"Oh, hey Melissa!" I smiled, letting out a sheepish chuckle. "Uh… I can explain this… "

"...okay..." She began, still with a stunned look on her face.

"Basically this is what we're gonna be covering you guys with," Jessica said with a small grin. "It's a lot, I know, but… face it." She became serious. "Visser Three's got some serious morphs that Earth's animals won't be able to do much damage to. Here's hoping that this will do the job."

"H-How did you-"

"Arms dealer Jess knew." I nodded over towards her. "Morphing may be our biggest trump card, but I'd like having _multiple_ weapons to throw at the Yeerks, instead of just one." He glanced around for a moment, before he sighed. "Anyways… once we get this squared away, I'm gonna need your help."

Melissa blinked. "Help… with what?" she asked. "I mean… are there more where this came from?"

"Well… yes and no..." I began, with a sheepish chuckle. "I'm gonna need you to use your Incognito morph... we're heading into town." I gestured over towards the Ford truck parked in the garage. "Come on."

* * *

"...you _do_ realize this is kinda… _weird_..."

" _Oi, blame your state for having leash laws._ "

To be brutally honest, I didn't exactly feel very… _dignified_ at the very moment after arriving in town. Melissa had morphed into an alter-ego human form she had acquired blending the DNA of some of the others to create a new person - much like what Ax did/will when he met the Animorphs. Surprisingly it wasn't that complicated.

As for me? Well… I was the German Shepherd currently on a leash as Melissa walked me down the street.

As I said… not very dignified.

"Just… _why_ are you doing this?" Melissa muttered, glancing around with a somewhat panicked expression. "This… this is so weird."

" _I know, I know - but this is the only chance I have to find… someone specific._ " I informed, as I continued to sniff the people around, looking for something out of the ordinary. " _Someone that doesn't smell..._ "

Melissa actually paused at that, as we came to a halt. "Doesn't… smell?" she whispered, glancing around making sure no one noticed that she was talking to a dog. "What's that supposed to mean?"

" _I mean they don't have a smell of their own,_ " I elaborated, shaking my head for a moment. " _Smells from other things, dogs and people, but no individual smell of their own. We all have our own smell… but there is a certain kind of people here who_ doesn't _._ "

"...Slugs?" She asked, still in a hushed tone - Slugs was slowly working its way as our code-word for Yeerks when in public, since if we toss the name out too much, someone might overhear our discussion and there goes the neighborhood.

" _No… not exactly,_ " I said as I tugged the leash to keep moving. She sighed as she followed suit. " _Might be with the Sharing though, but please just trust me._ "

Melissa sighed. "Alright… I'm trusting you on this..." she mused. "Just… be careful with this..."

I nodded as I continued sniffing everyone we walked past. It was… difficult keeping focus, largely in part due to the dog's own mentality… of just being outright _happy_.

Seriously, the Animorphs were not kidding - the dog's mind _oozed_ happy like crazy! I was hard pressed to stay focused on the task as I just wanted to do… well, everything really. Meet all the people around me, let them pet me, let them approve of me, it was… _very_ distracting to say the least. But I had to stay focused, I had to find someone who didn't smell… someone who didn't smell, kinda like that one guy-

...wait…

I turned back, sniffed a few more times… was it possible… yes… _there_ we go! " _Bingo!_ " I said, as I sat down while Melissa blinked. " _Him. By the hot dog stand. He doesn't have his own scent._ "

"Huh?" Melissa asked, as she followed my gaze. "Wait… isn't that Erek King?"

" _...THAT'S Erek King?_ " I asked for confirmation.

"Yeah… is he… important?" Melissa asked.

" _Very… yes._ " I nodded, and if my dog mouth would of allowed it I would of grinned. Not only did I find a Chee, I found _Erek_. The very first Chee the Animorphs were meant to encounter. I love it when things just fall into place like that. " _Stay here, if you need to remorph use the Burger King down the street, but we'll meet back up at the bench across the street._ "

"Okay…" Melissa still didn't sound too confident, though I didn't blame her. I hated the fact I couldn't tell her the full truth yet, but I needed this to happen. I was glad though that she trusted me enough to go through with this, and I intended to repay that trust in full.

As she undid my leash, I just casually strolled towards Erek, keeping an eye on my surroundings before I casually sat behind him. ' _Here goes nothing..._ ' I thought as I took a deep breath. " _Erek King?_ "

The Android actually jumped in surprise for a moment, spinning around in confusion before his eyes fell upon me, blinking owlishly. " _Yes, it was me. You're Erek King right? As in Erek King of the Chee? Look, we have a lot to talk about, but I think it'd be best if we did this a bit more privately if you know what I mean..._ "

Erek looked at me with a bit of suspicion, however it seemed he complied as a few moments later his hologram dissipated - revealing the true form of Erek underneath as he spread his Hologram around them to hide what was _really_ going on. It was… an odd sight seeing a Chee, he honestly looked like the Terminator from the movies only make it look more dog-like with a Canine-like head and limbs.

"How do you know what I am?" Erek asked, and while the Android itself couldn't make a facial expression, I could tell he was probably glaring at me with a mix of shock and suspicion.

" _Well, I think we can blame a certain omnipotent, omniscient being who likes to be the ultimate troll to you know who._ " I answered, as the Chee's head tilted slightly, before raising up - its 'ears' perking up much like a Dog's would.

"Wait… you mean the Ellimist?" Erek asked for confirmation.

" _Got it in one,_ " I nodded. " _He sent me here to ensure that things here happen in a way that allows the best possible future for_ everyone. _For humanity, Chee, Dogs, Cats, every living thing here to handle the Yeerks. So I came to find you so we can help one another out._ "

"You… want our help?" Erek asked, crossing his arms around his chest. "If you're asking us to fight, that-"

" _Of course not, Erek._ " I shook my head. " _I am very well aware of your pacifist programming by your creators. I am not asking for you to become soldiers, what I am asking is for you to be everything else we need… you have the means to fully infiltrate the Yeerks, to act as agents within their ranks. We need an intelligence network if we want to figure out ALL of their plans for Earth, which I know you and your people can provide. I'm assuming you've already got people on the inside?_ "

The Chee tilted his head to the side, before nodding. "Yes… we noticed the Yeerks presence the moment they arrived," he confirmed. "We've been monitoring them for a few years now."

" _Good._ " I nodded. " _Whenever you find intel that is critical to hindering the efforts of the Yeerks, I want to know ASAP… though that's not the only reason I need Chee help._ "

"What else then?" Erek asked.

" _Thousands of years ago you served your creators as not only friends, but as builders as well, correct?_ " I asked. " _You helped build their infrastructure, their ships, their technology… I need that same level of help as well. The Ellimist has provided for me an area in the mountains that is hidden from the Yeerks and average citizens of Earth, in a valley up north. However I want to take further precautions: I wish to build an underground base, similar to the one you yourselves possess, only larger and more focused on the goal of preserving the independence and freedom of humanity and Earth. I assume such work would be childsplay for the Chee?_ "

Erek nodded. "I… suppose it would," he confirmed, "but we would need some time… and materials."

" _Materials I can provide, don't you worry,_ " I assured. " _I don't want this thing to be overly fancy, I just want it pragmatic and practical. Someplace that the Yeerks would have a very,_ VERY _hard time getting into… on another topic though, how willing would the Chee be to provide some of your creators technology to the cause?_ "

"That… is a more tricky situation," Erek informed sighing. "While our programming doesn't _forbid_ us from doing so… we haven't been willing to provide Pelament technology to less-advanced civilizations for a reason… I suppose you could say it's like the Prime Directive from Star Trek if you are familiar."

" _I am, and while I totally understand that concept, I do not believe the Yeerks will play by the same rules,_ " I added. " _I'm not asking for your latest and greatest. I'm just asking for tech that will help me slowly uplift mankind's technology to a stage where it might have a chance to fight against the Yeerks. I am trying to prevent what happened to your creators from happening here to humanity… only to be honest I find enslavement by body-stealing slugs to be a far worse fate than a quick death at the hands of the Howlers._ "

Erek seemed to visibly recoil a bit at the mentioning of the Howlers, his head bowing slightly. "Yes… I suppose you'd be right..." he whispered.

" _I'm sorry..._ " I apologized, my own head bowing down. " _I know that… it must be a painful memory, but if we're going to do this we need to pool our resources together. I have plans to make things easier for us, but I need the Chee's help if I'm actually going to pull this off. Can I count on that?_ "

"I… will have to talk with the rest of the Chee," Erek informed. "Some of them may be hesitant to truly get involved, but… even they have to see that if we sit and do nothing, everything our creators lived for is at risk here."

" _Thank you, Erek,_ " I said as I stood up. " _If possible I would like to meet again within one weeks from today, outside the school you attend - so you can give me you and your people's answer, and then I can give you all the information you need. I need to go now… again, thank you."_

Erek nodded, before his hologram returned to normal as he once again appeared as a human, and everyone around us were none the wiser as he just kneeled down and patted me like any other person would to a dog. I let out a single happy bark before I turned around and headed over to the benches to meet up with Melissa - feeling much more confident that today marked the day some _real_ changes were taking place.

* * *

 **Jessica**

* * *

I had to admit, it felt good to finally have some means of fighting back once more. I looked back at the arsenal we had accumulated, and although it was something, we still lacked what we had before. And mostly we lacked Steven's plane, which had been our biggest asset in hunting down known Yeerk Pool entrances.

But mostly… I wanted my family to know what had happened to me.

My mind was so busy focusing on the upcoming revelation that I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going, so I found myself getting lost in the large house. I had to admit it was a _lot_ bigger than I had expected.

I groaned to myself when I realized I didn't know where I was. "Shit…" I muttered. "Now what'll I do?"

I turned and made my way back down the hall, but I couldn't make out anything familiar, other than a few doors leading into bedrooms and whatnot. I wandered for a few minutes more before I _finally_ made my way back to the main entrance. "Okay. Note to self: pay attention to surroundings," I muttered. "Don't let your mind wander."

That was one lesson I had learned from my… Yeerking… you could say. And I was determined to take it to heart.

I prepared to make my way into the next wing of the house where my team was setting up shop.

Steven had his upper body inside one of the crates, and lying all around him and Tony - who was busy assembling them - were a few RPG launchers, and a bunch of grenades stacked in a neat pile. Vanessa was busy checking over the mines we had purchased and a whole wall was devoted to small arms, machine guns, a Gatling gun, and a variety of sniper rifles, including the AK-47. The ammo was currently located in crates, and each crate was marked accordingly.

"How's it going?" I asked.

"Good," Tony said. "Have to admit, Jordan's finances came in handy this time. But we still need something else…"

Steven grumbled as he pulled out another launcher and set it down for Tony to assemble. "If I only knew what happened to my plane, then I would feel better…" he muttered.

"We'll get to that, don't worry," Vanessa said as she set aside another landmine. "But for now we got other things to worry about, such as getting our families to believe it wasn't us."

"I know," he muttered. "But it's just so hard…"

I knew what he meant. When we had first begun our operations against those slugs, he told us that his plane was like a part of him, a piece he always cared for and didn't let out of his sight very often until recently. And now he felt like he was missing a piece of himself. A key part that made him who he was.

Tony went to work on assembling the rocket launcher. "And one other thing: we need to get some methods of trying to prevent ourselves from being slugged again," he mused darkly. His eyes flashed as he gripped one of the components tightly. "And for good."

"No way earmuffs or headsets are gonna work," Vanessa snorted. "We'd need some kind of anti-Yeerk spray or something."

"Dunno if that's possible, but maybe we can come up with something…" I mused. My mind was already working, trying to come up with ideas, but so far none of them seemed viable… aside from bubble helmets that covered our entire heads. And _that_ was not something I wanted.

"If you're thinking of bubble helmets, then forget it," Tony said. "I know that's what you first proposed once we learned the truth, but it won't work. We need something slimmer and more hi-tech, but also practical."

"Like what?" I asked.

"That is something we can handle later," a voice inquired from the doorway. I turned and I saw Jordan enter the house, with Melissa in tow.

"Jordan," I nodded, with a small smile. "So, whatever you did… how did it go?"

"Swimmingly, actually." He said walking towards them. "Hopefully by next week we might have a new ally. So how are things here?"

"Good, all things considered." Tony informed. "We're just looking over the weapons, making sure they function properly."

"How are the people we freed the other day handling?" Jordan asked as he picked up a USP, inspecting the weapon.

"Still taking it easy, though they're eager to get into the fight." Steven said, "They wanna take a chunk out of the Yeerks as much as any sane person would… I should know."

"They'll have their chance, we just need some time to put it into motion." Jordan said. "I'll try and get to know them, learn whatever skill sets are and how best to use them here."

"So…. who did you go and meet?" Jessica asked.

"Can't say for now, but I will say they will be the key towards some much needed expansion." Jordan informed, as he walked towards his room. "If you'll excuse me, I have some extra prep work to begin."

As he closed the door, I sighed slightly. "For being our savior… he's awfully mysterious..." she mused.

"Tell me about it..." Tony muttered, "I feel like he's hiding something..."

"Well… he is," Melissa said, as I and the rest of my team looked at her. "But he's… cautious with who he shares it with… remember, if any of us were captured by Yeerks… it's game over for the lot of us - and the planet."

"I understand that," Steven nodded, "Still… I don't like being left out of the loop..."

I nodded. "Gotta agree. But… for now we got stuff to focus on."

* * *

 **Jordan**

* * *

I really, _really_ hate the fact I have to keep this secret from Jessica or her team - I really do. I know they deserve to know what I know, but at the same time I had to ensure that, on the chance they get reslugged, they won't be able to compromise _everything_ about the future. As much as it pained me, everything had to be on a need-to-know basis with this information, which is why so far, only the Animorphs will need-to-know until further notice.

Attempting to drone out those thoughts I continued on with other duties on my computer setup, namely the little 'operation' with Chapman's house. It turned out the idea of bugging his phones and house paid off just as much as I had hoped - since now the two Yeerks were more open about discussing the topic of the invasion without worrying about Melissa listening in. While it wasn't as good as getting a bug in the 'secret' room downstairs I couldn't access, intelligence was still intelligence.

From the bugs I was already getting a good deal of info. Most of it at the moment was them talking about hunting down Melissa, as they've spoken with her friends during school, put out a missing persons report and all of that stuff - as well as having Yeerks on the lookout, but so far they've turned out nothing. While I felt a pang of anger at the idea of them hunting her like an animal… I also felt very, _very_ smug over the thought that they wouldn't be finding her in a long, _long_ time. Not if I had anything to say about it at least.

On top of that though, there were other bits of Yeerk business I was able to gather. Nothing game changing, but by tracking certain calls and mapping them out I was able to ID additional controllers across the district, as well as the whole state. From some dull positions like students and salarymen to bigger management positions in some small businesses, teachers and members of the police force. All of whom I now had listed and tracked on my own database under "Known Controllers".

Already that list was getting lengthy - disturbingly so.

But a list was still a list - the sooner we could tell our allies and enemies apart the better. And with that we could make a much more positive impact on the future.

There was a knock on the door. "Come in," I spoke, as the door opened revealing Melissa. "What's up?"

"Oh… I got a call from Rachel," she said. "She said Tobias suggested everyone go flying tomorrow, we all got flying morphs from Cassie's barn so… we want to give them a test run. I was wondering if you want to come with?"

I paused to consider that. That was the setting to the beginning of book 2, with the team all flying - involving some hunters trying to take a few pot shots at them in-flight. Though considering how different things were with Melissa among their numbers changed things though, meaning Rachel wasn't going to try and morph her cat to go infiltrate Chapman's house. There wasn't any _real_ reason for me to join them… but then again…

"...eh, sure why not?" I shrugged. "May as well see how good yall fly. Me and Tobias will _ace_ you though."

Melissa grinned slightly. "We'll see about that," she said. "Rachel's got her eyes on a Bald Eagle in Cassie's barn, not sure what I'll choose though… "

"Just choose what feels right," I assured with a smile. "It's how I got my Goshawk, and our big cats."

Melissa turned her head slightly in thought. "Hmmm… yeah, I guess that works..." she said. "I've only really picked what's been convenient so far… my cat, my Lion… " She then chuckled. "Meanwhile you've been acquiring everything under the sun and moon from what Cassie's told me when you're at the barn."

"I like animals, what can I say?" I shrugged with a chuckle. "And Cassie's barn has a lot to offer. From wolves and wildcats to the little critters that just stroll around."

"Explains why you like volunteering there," she added. "Cassie's been talking about how much of a help you've been… better look out or Jake'll go after you..."

I let out a barking laugh. "Hah! Oh yeah, gotta make sure I don't get involved with _those_ lovebirds," I said. "Last thing we need here is a love triangle."

Melissa couldn't help but giggle as well. "Got that right..." she said, "Well… you just try and get some rest, okay Jordan?"

"Will do," I waved as I turned back to the computer. "Night Melissa."

"Yeah… Night," She nodded as she closed the door behind her as she left. When she was gone, I continued working on the computer, finishing up the list of known controllers while I was also waiting. Waiting for the sun to set, for everyone to get in their beds and fast asleep. When the moon rose over the horizon and everyone was sound asleep, I turned my computer off as I turned to leave. There was something very important I had to take care of… something no one else could ever know about.

* * *

As I walked into the construction site, I was hit by a sudden sensation of nostalgia from what had transpired just weeks before. If I closed my eyes I could still see us standing there, with Elfangor, the cube, his ship… all just before it all went to hell. Before the Yeerks showed up and introduced us to how harsh this war was going to be.

But I didn't come here for nostalgia… I came for something far more important than that as I pulled out a metal detector and started searching.

I knew there was something _very_ important here. Something I could never allow to fall into the wrong hands, no matter what.

I spent nearly a half an hour searching, picking up false signals of old nails and small chunks of metal, but nothing of what I was looking for. I was almost about to give up… until the detector started going bonkers. It was as if it was picking up metal yet… not at all at the same time. It was difficult to describe… but I took it as a sign. So I started digging.

It took me a while as I dug up one big hole, shoveling dirt as fast as I could - I had learned that the Yeerks weren't keeping an eye on the site anymore from the bugs in Chapman's house, so while I knew I had time… I didn't want to stick around and test my luck.

CLANG.

I stopped as I heard the loud, resounding clang as I glanced down. I brushed off some dirt, and was met with a pure white surface.

I found it.

I kept on digging around it, forming a hole until I eventually unearthed the entire object. I sat at the bottom of the hole looking at what anyone else would just mistaken as some giant white sphere, maybe something in an art museum… but I knew better. I knew _exactly_ what this thing was.

It was a weapon more powerful than anything humanity could ever hope to achieve, that any species could ever hope to build. A weapon with the power to reforge entire destinies, to create something from nothing - even the most outlandish of possibilities could become true with its power.

I had found the Time Matrix.

True, the Ellimist told me never to reveal the Time Matrix's location to the Animorphs… key word there being: the Animorphs.

They would never know about the Time Matrix. Or at least I hoped they never would.

Using a wench I had brought on the truck, I loaded the Time Matrix up into the bed and quickly covered it up. Once it was tied up, I covered up the hole with the dirt and drove away. In an hour I was back home in the middle of the night as the others slept as I unloaded the Time Matrix next to another hole I had dug earlier - just outside our house. And I dropped the matrix inside, and started to bury it.

I was a firm believer in a very simple concept: with great power comes great responsibility. With all the knowledge I had at my disposal, I had to use it very carefully because knowledge was just another form of power, at least in the eyes of some.

Which was why I did not want to just use the Time Matrix all willy-nilly. Sure, I could go back in time and kill Visser Three - maybe save Elfangor, or who knows what else. Maybe use it to cheat by seeing the future and see what happens before it does, and take steps to prevent it. But that opened a new pandora's box: what would happen if there was no Visser Three? What would happen if certain things that happened, didn't happen? I could make things better, or I could make them infinitely worse.

That was a risk not worth taking - a risk that had the potential of wiping out people from existence.

Would I forever keep the thing buried? I hoped so, but I knew there may come a time I may have no choice… yet already in my mind there were ideas on how to use this technology, to use it in ways I hoped would have a minimal - if non-existent - effects in the world. But I had to bury those ideas along with the Matrix for now. Because for now my goal was to keep this out of the hands of Visser Four. I had to prevent the events of Megamorphs 3. Did everything turn out okay? Yes they did… but I wasn't about to take that risk considering what else has already changed.

I told you all before I hated keeping secrets from the others… but on the other hand I knew there were some things they were better off not knowing yet. That included the Animorphs themselves. It pained me, but this was one thing I had to ensure remained a burden for only me to bare. As I reburied the Time Matrix in its new home, I let out a tired sigh before I finished up for the night - parking the truck, shutting down and preparing for some needed shut eye.

As I laid in bed preparing to sleep, the thoughts of the Time Matrix persisted for a while, but I continued to repeat the phrase in my head: great power means great responsibility. And when it came to time…

...I needed to be _very_ responsible.


End file.
